KITCHENER -- The Brant County Health Unit has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Brantford General Hospital in the surgical inpatient unit.

The outbreak was declared Thursday, officials said in a news release, after a Brant Community Healthcare System (BCHS) staff member and a patient both tested positive for COVID-19.

The staff member is now in self-isolation at home. Any close contacts are considered low-risk for transmission, officials said, but will be contacted by the public health unit.

The hospital currently has enhanced cleaning, screening, limited visitor numbers and mandatory masking in place to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Brant County has had a total of 475 cases of the disease since the pandemic began. Of those, 399 are considered resolved, while five people have died.

There have been 14 new cases reported in the past 24 hours.