WATERLOO -- St. Mary’s General Hospital has declared COVID-19 outbreaks in two of its units.

The announcement came Saturday via news release and with consultation from Waterloo Region Public Health.

“We’re caring for 13 [COVID-19] patients in the hospital and that does not constitute an outbreak,” said Lee Fairclough, President of St. Mary’s. “The difference here is there was some identification that there was transmission within the hospital.”

“We elected to do this out of an abundance of caution.”

The Kitchener hospital says they are closing the third floor unit to new admissions, but say other services and care are unaffected.

A patient on the third floor unit has tested positive for COVID-19 in what is believed to be patient-to-patient transmission.

The patient was in a semi-private room and initially tested negative, but was later found to be COVID-positive after they were readmitted with worsening symptoms, according to officials.

The hospital says the patients were both men in their 60s.

A staff member on the unit has also reportedly contracted the virus while providing care for the first patient.

The hospital says that there has been staff-to-staff transmission on the sixth floor.

It was determined through an investigation into a cluster of COVID-positive staff that the transmission occurred in a common space and not in a direct patient care area.

Admissions of patients are expected to continue on this floor as staff will keep wearing personal protective equipment.

The hospital says the earliest the outbreak on the sixth floor can be declared over is April 28, while the earliest the outbreak on the third floor can be declared over is April 30.

As of Saturday, 257 St. Mary’s staff have been tested for COVID-19 and 22 have tested positive. The staff who tested positive are self-isolating at their homes.

Fairclough adds that more than 30 hospitals in Ontario have declared COVID-19 outbreaks.