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Partners of women giving birth at the the Jewish General Hospital have been barred from being present after a man infected with COVID-19 attended his wife’s delivery, Health minister Danielle McCann revealed Saturday.

“What we have to say about that is that it’s very unfortunate what happened in the birthing section of the Jewish General Hospital,” McCann said during the Quebec government’s daily media briefing on COVID-19.

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“Unfortunately, some conjoint or partner of a woman who was about to give birth was infected with COVID-19, had the symptoms. And that’s really, really something that should not happen in a hospital, anywhere,” she said.

The infected man “could have infected other people,” McCann noted.

As a result, since Friday, the hospital is no longer allowing partners to attend births, she said.

However, in other hospitals, their presence is still allowed, she added.

The hospital’s website now specifies “the partner or a designated person is not permitted at the time of delivery and for the postpartum period.”