St. Mary’s and Grand River hospitals continue passive screenings amid southwestern Ont. measles outbreak

Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital are seen in these file photos.

As measles cases continue to climb across southwestern Ontario, St. Mary’s General Hospital and Grand River Hospital are continuing to take precautionary measures to help stop the spread of the illness.

In an email to CTV News, a hospital spokesperson confirmed both hospitals have implemented passive screening at all entrances to encourage anyone who is feeling ill or experiencing symptoms not to visit the facilities.

While there is screening set up at both hospitals, there are no visitor restrictions in place.

The screening involves signs at hospital entrances and on digital screens throughout the buildings. The messaging can also be found on the hospitals’ social media accounts and on their websites.

“Because of this ongoing passive screening, combined with the fact that cases are currently in surrounding regions, we’re not currently considering any additional restrictions,” the email read in part.

Cases on the rise

According to a new report from Public Health Ontario, 277 confirmed infections and 95 probable cases have been reported across 11 health units in just three months.

Most of those illnesses are within the coverage area of Southwestern Public Health and Grand Erie Public Health.

The data showed 183 measles cases were reported by Southwestern Public Health. Grand Erie Public Health, in a media briefing Thursday, said that as of March 13, they were aware of 110 measles cases. Of those, at least cases 21 involved adults, 70 cases involved children and the remaining illnesses were listed as probable infections. All but three of those cases are in Norfolk County.

Other communities

Warnings about the spread of measles have been issued in many other communities across Ontario.

On Thursday, the South East Health Unit reported 32 measles cases in Hastings County near Kingston.

Health alerts have also been issued in Woodstock, Tillsonburg, Hamilton, London and Toronto. Visitor restrictions are currently in place at Windsor Regional Hospital due to the increase in measles cases. Starting Thursday, children under the age of 16 are not permitted inside the hospital unless they are receiving medical treatment.

Measles outbreaks have also been reported in Alberta and Quebec, while Europe is seeing its highest number of cases in 25 years.

“Following a backsliding in immunization coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic, cases rose significantly again in 2023 and 2024,” the World Health Organization said in a statement. “Vaccination rates in many countries are yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.”

- With files from Reuters