3rd death linked to COVID-19 outbreaks in Kamloops hospital

A third person has died of COVID-19 in relation to four outbreaks at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.

Interior Health reported one new death today, Nov. 14 in an outbreak in Unit 6 South. The outbreak in the surgical ward has nine positive patient cases and one death, an increase of one case from yesterday.

Unit 5 North, a stroke and rehab unit, has two COVID-19 patient cases and two staff/other cases, an increase of two staff cases since yesterday.

Unit 7 North, a general ward that specializes in renal and cardiac patients, has four patient cases while unit 5 South, a general medical floor, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases with 19 patients, seven staff/other cases and two deaths reported.

Yesterday, Interior Health communications officer Adam Wilson said the health authority does not know at this time if the outbreaks are linked and it is exploring several hypotheses.

Determining if the outbreaks are linked also involves genome sequencing of the COVID-19 virus, which can take several weeks, he said.

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