‘What is the plan?’: Ottawa long-term care outbreak raises fears about readiness for next wave of COVID-19

Elizabeth Payne, The Ottawa Citizen

After weeks of relative calm, a new, large COVID-19 outbreak at an Ottawa long-term care home is raising fears that not enough has been done to prevent a second deadly wave in long-term care across Ontario. As of this week, at least 27 residents of Extendicare West End Villa and three staff members had tested positive for COVID-19, making it the largest current outbreak in the province and the only one with more than five active cases. Extendicare says it does not know for certain how the outbreak started, but it is a reminder how quickly COVID-19 can spread, especially among vulnerable long-term care residents, once it gets inside a home. Because it is the first significant outbreak in an Ontario long-term care home since the first wave of COVID-19 killed more than 1,800 long-term care residents and infected thousands more, it is the focus of attention from the province and Ottawa Public Health, which has been in daily contact with the home.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/what-is-the-plan-ottawa-long-term-care-outbreak-raises-fears-about-readiness-for-next-wave-of-covid-19https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/what-is-the-plan-ottawa-long-term-care-outbreak-raises-fears-about-readiness-for-next-wave-of-covid-19

Report calls on Ottawa to overhaul long-term care system

Jill Mahoney, The Globe and Mail

Ottawa should establish national rules and provide significant funding for long-term care to ensure high standards and avoid a repeat of the COVID-19 crisis in nursing homes, a group of 10 sector experts recommends. In a report prepared for the Royal Society of Canada, the experts call on Ottawa to work with the provinces and territories on a national plan to overhaul the long-term care system to address widespread deficiencies, beginning with staffing. Nursing and retirement homes have been hit hardest by COVID-19 in Canada, with more than 1,000 outbreaks and just more than 80 per cent of the country’s deaths – a long-term care mortality rate far higher than that of other wealthy countries. “Canada’s reality is that, without federal financial support, provincial and territorial governments are unlikely to have resources for the high standards that our frail elderly deserve in nursing homes and LTC more broadly,” says the document, obtained by The Globe and Mail before its release on Friday.

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-report-calls-on-ottawa-to-overhaul-long-term-care-system/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-report-calls-on-ottawa-to-overhaul-long-term-care-system/

Last Covid-positive resident at Peter D. Clark long-term care home dies

Joanne Laucius, The Ottawa Citizen

The last COVID-19 positive resident at the Peter D. Clark long-term care centre has died. The Peter D. Clark facility is one of four city-run homes and one of the hardest hit by COVID-19. So far, eight residents and one staff member have died.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/last-covid-positive-resident-at-peter-d-clark-ltc-home-dies/wcm/2256bd89-c936-4ae8-a810-82ef316ccbc3/

Long-term care: Stop the finger pointing and plan for the second Covid-19 wave

Editorial Board, The Ottawa Citizen

This week, the Canadian Institute for Health Information released a report noting that, as of late May, 81 per cent of COVID-19-related deaths in Canada had been recorded in long-term care facilities. This compared poorly to the OECD average of 42 per cent. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford wasted no time blaming each other. Canada’s premiers, said Trudeau, had dropped the ball: “It is they who failed to protect our seniors well during this pandemic.” Retorted Ford: “Put your money where your mouth is … Help us out, we can’t do this alone.”

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https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorial-long-term-care-stop-the-finger-pointing-plan-for-the-second-covid-19-wave/wcm/c03accf7-10c6-4507-b728-5b4e7b8eb251/

New analysis paints international picture of COVID-19 long-term care impacts Study released by the Canadian Institute of Health Information

CBC News

A new analysis released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows that while Canada’s COVID-19 death rate is relatively low compared to other OECD countries, the proportion of deaths occurring in long-term care (LTC) is double the OECD average. As of May 25, at the country level, LTC residents accounted for 81% of all reported COVID-19 deaths in Canada, compared with an average of 42% in 16 other OECD countries (ranging from less than 10% in Slovenia and Hungary to 66% in Spain). This analysis examines Canada’s pandemic experience in LTC and that of other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), focusing on 3 areas: cases and deaths, baseline health system characteristics and policy responses.

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https://www.cihi.ca/en/new-analysis-paints-international-picture-of-covid-19s-long-term-care-impacts

For a Snapshot PDF of the study’s findings, go to:
https://www.cihi.ca/sites/default/files/document/covid-19-rapid-response-long-term-care-snapshot-en.pdf