MHSC
Senior Moderator
[SIZE=+2] Eastlink office shut after virus outbreak[/SIZE]
By KRISTEN LIPSCOMBE Staff Reporter
No phones were answered at a Truro call centre for a couple of days this week.
EastLink shut down the building Sunday after many of its staffers started complaining of symptoms similar to those of the Norwalk virus. The facility was closed all day Monday, too.
Lee Bragg, co-CEO of EastLink, said some employees called in sick Sunday and others who did show up for work were feeling "quite ill."
"We didn?t want to take any chances," he said Tuesday night. "There seemed to be sufficient evidence to justify (shutting) it down."
EastLink spokeswoman Paula Sibley told a CTV News reporter Tuesday that the "employees that did report to work were showing flu-like symptoms."
"We realized that this was obviously not normal and we made the decision to close the facility," she said.
Ms. Sibley said about 10 workers were still sick Tuesday with suspiciously Norwalk-like symptoms. About 50 to 60 people work in the company?s Truro call centre.
Although a small number of staffers returned to work Tuesday, the television reporter said many remained at home to either recover or avoid becoming ill.
Mr. Bragg said EastLink contacted the Health Department and had the office thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before employees started coming back to work Tuesday.
"Our health and safety officer contacted Public Health Services to sort of determine a course of action."
He said EastLink is now taking proactive measures to keep workers happy and healthy.
"We?ve sent notification out to everybody, all of our senior managers, just to keep an eye on things," Mr. Bragg said. "We?ve put antibacterial hand wash and wipes all over the place just to be on the safe side, as well."
He said everything at the Truro facility is quickly getting back on track.
"It seemed to be something that hit fast and hard and has run its course," he said.
An 88-year-old woman suffering from Norwalk virus died Sunday in the Halifax Infirmary. Mary Rose Benoit, who lived at Sunrise Manor in Halifax, visited the emergency room last week with diarrhea and was diagnosed with Norwalk, one of a group of bugs called norovirus.
With an unusually large number of patients showing norovirus-like symptoms, the Capital district health authority has closed several hospital facilities to stop the bug from spreading. Dartmouth General Hospital, the Abbie J. Lane building in Halifax and various parts of other metro hospitals are closed to visitors for now. Go to www.cdha.nshealth.ca for more information.
Sheila MacDonald, manager of infection control, said Monday that there have been 40 to 50 confirmed or suspected cases of norovirus in Capital Health buildings over the last week and a half.
Norovirus is highly contagious, typically causes vomiting and diarrhea and lasts a couple of days. It is spread by person-to-person contact or through contact with contaminated surfaces.
( klipscombe@herald.ca)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/546972.html
By KRISTEN LIPSCOMBE Staff Reporter
No phones were answered at a Truro call centre for a couple of days this week.
EastLink shut down the building Sunday after many of its staffers started complaining of symptoms similar to those of the Norwalk virus. The facility was closed all day Monday, too.
Lee Bragg, co-CEO of EastLink, said some employees called in sick Sunday and others who did show up for work were feeling "quite ill."
"We didn?t want to take any chances," he said Tuesday night. "There seemed to be sufficient evidence to justify (shutting) it down."
EastLink spokeswoman Paula Sibley told a CTV News reporter Tuesday that the "employees that did report to work were showing flu-like symptoms."
"We realized that this was obviously not normal and we made the decision to close the facility," she said.
Ms. Sibley said about 10 workers were still sick Tuesday with suspiciously Norwalk-like symptoms. About 50 to 60 people work in the company?s Truro call centre.
Although a small number of staffers returned to work Tuesday, the television reporter said many remained at home to either recover or avoid becoming ill.
Mr. Bragg said EastLink contacted the Health Department and had the office thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before employees started coming back to work Tuesday.
"Our health and safety officer contacted Public Health Services to sort of determine a course of action."
He said EastLink is now taking proactive measures to keep workers happy and healthy.
"We?ve sent notification out to everybody, all of our senior managers, just to keep an eye on things," Mr. Bragg said. "We?ve put antibacterial hand wash and wipes all over the place just to be on the safe side, as well."
He said everything at the Truro facility is quickly getting back on track.
"It seemed to be something that hit fast and hard and has run its course," he said.
An 88-year-old woman suffering from Norwalk virus died Sunday in the Halifax Infirmary. Mary Rose Benoit, who lived at Sunrise Manor in Halifax, visited the emergency room last week with diarrhea and was diagnosed with Norwalk, one of a group of bugs called norovirus.
With an unusually large number of patients showing norovirus-like symptoms, the Capital district health authority has closed several hospital facilities to stop the bug from spreading. Dartmouth General Hospital, the Abbie J. Lane building in Halifax and various parts of other metro hospitals are closed to visitors for now. Go to www.cdha.nshealth.ca for more information.
Sheila MacDonald, manager of infection control, said Monday that there have been 40 to 50 confirmed or suspected cases of norovirus in Capital Health buildings over the last week and a half.
Norovirus is highly contagious, typically causes vomiting and diarrhea and lasts a couple of days. It is spread by person-to-person contact or through contact with contaminated surfaces.
( klipscombe@herald.ca)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/546972.html