Eleven people still ill after norovirus outbreak at B.C. care home

VICTORIA – Eleven people remain ill at a Victoria, B.C., seniors’ care home after a fast-spreading norovirus outbreak that infected 100 residents and 50 staff members.

Nine people have died since the outbreak began at Selkirk Place three weeks ago, but the Vancouver Island Health Authority says the causes of deaths still have to be determined.

Noroviruses are part of a group of viruses that cause severe vomiting and diarrhea and the health authority says they are common in the summer and in long-term care homes.

But spokesperson Sarah Plank says the outbreak at Selkirk Place was unusually wide-spreading, as 40 people became ill within 24 hours of the first case.

She says containment was more difficult when so many people became ill so quickly, but she believes the virus has peaked and the worst may be over.

Plank says officials have been unable to identify where the virus likely came from.