The infection control team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital says it is “confident” that the cluster of COVID-19 cases that emerged at the hospital last month has been “contained.”
Ultimately, the hospital determined 57 cases, including 42 employees and 15 patients, were connected to the outbreak that was identified Sept. 22. The hospital said in a statement there have been no new contagious cases in affected units of the hospital since Oct. 3.
“Our Infection Control team identified multiple possible factors that contributed to the cluster, including a highly infectious source patient, several individuals with very high viral loads, inconsistencies in patient masking and the use of eye protection among providers, and a lack of physical distancing among staff while eating,” the hospital said.
Dr. Michael Klompas, a hospital epidemiologist, told The Boston Globe that the highly infectious patient believed to be the source of the outbreak had symptoms of a respiratory infection when they came in for another issue and tested negative for COVID-19 twice before spreading the virus to four different roommates across three units.
In response to the outbreak, the hospital tested all inpatients for COVID-19 every three days, in addition to testing all patients upon admission and daily symptom screening. The hospital also tested its HVAC systems, tested potentially exposed staff, and thoroughly cleaned the affected areas.
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