In addition to having to be wary of the COVID-19 pandemic already, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) also has to grapple with a chickenpox outbreak.
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A child contracted chickenpox through community transmission before being admitted to the hospital in Ottawa for another reason, Global News reported Monday, citing hospital sources.
The child later developed a rash and two other children were infected.
The hospital maintains to have taken all safety precautions, so that the risk of transmission would be “extremely low”. All families whose children may have been exposed have been notified, the Global network added.
The outbreak comes as Ottawa continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Although the infection rate among young people has increased in Ottawa since mid-July, the children’s hospital has not seen an outbreak of coronavirus cases so far.
Public Health data shows that 42 of the 139 active cases of COVID-19 in the city concern people under the age of 20.
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