Video captures residents wandering into woman’s room at Ottawa long-term care home hit hard by COVID-19

Judy Trinh, CBC News, The Fifth Estate

A camera installed by a woman concerned about her mother’s health inside an Ottawa long-term care home overwhelmed by COVID-19 shows several residents wandering into a private room at the height of the outbreak. The footage shared with The Fifth Estate shows lapses in infection control and provides a glimpse into how Madonna Care Community, one of the hardest-hit nursing homes in Ontario, responded to the crisis. Madonna Care has one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the capital. Ninety-seven of the home’s 160 residents contracted COVID-19. Nearly half of them died.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/video-infection-control-lapse-wandering-residents-sienna-living-madonna-care-1.5611750

Almost as many Ottawa health care workers as long-term care residents infected

Joanne Laucius, The Ottawa Citizen

Almost two-thirds of those who are in the Ottawa workforce and have been infected with COVID-19 are health-care workers, according to a special report. The report, released Wednesday by Ottawa Public Health, looks at occupational information provided by those who have tested positive with the aim of learning more about who is at most risk and how the virus is spreading.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/almost-as-many-ottawa-health-care-workers-as-ltc-residents-infected-report

COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care homes and other institutions in Ottawa

CTVNewsOttawa.ca

First published on May 20, and updated on June 17, 2020

OTTAWA — Long-term care homes have been among the hardest hit locations during the COVID-19 pandemic, accounting for the majority of cases and deaths recorded in Ontario. Below you will find the latest figures from Ottawa Public Health on all current COVID-19 outbreaks in the city. These data are compiled from the daily reports from Ottawa Public Health unless otherwise stated. If an institution is not listed, that means it has never experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 as of the most recent reporting. Since April 1, a single staff or resident case of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 is considered an outbreak in A long-term care home, retirement home, or other non-hospital congregate setting. Since May 10, 2 staff or patient cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a specified unit within a 14-day period where both cases could have reasonably acquired their infection in hospital is considered an outbreak in a public hospital.

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https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/covid-19-outbreaks-at-long-term-care-homes-and-other-institutions-in-ottawa-1.4958434?cache=%3FclipId%3D104069

Some have doubts about how well the limited LTC, retirement home visits will work

Taylor Blewett, The Ottawa Citizen

The Ontario government has announced “a cautious restart” of visits to long-term care, retirement, and other congregate living homes starting June 18, more than three months after the province first clamped down on visitors deemed non-essential to stem the spread of COVID-19. Visits will only be allowed at facilities without an active outbreak of the virus, and guests will have to wear a face covering, pass screening and confirm to staff they’ve tested negative for COVID-19 within the previous two weeks.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ontario-to-allow-limited-ltc-retirement-home-visits-in-cautious-restart

The cruelly disproportionate spread of the virus in Ottawa long-term care homes

James Bagnall, The Ottawa Citizen

There is much we don’t know about how this virus spreads. Consider the situation in Ottawa, where long-term care homes account for more than half of the nearly 2,000 confirmed cases to date across the city and 85 per cent of Ottawa’s 248 coronavirus-related deaths. Remarkably, the strong majority of the long-term care cases and deaths have emerged from just four of the city’s nearly 30 facilities — Laurier Manor, Madonna Care Community, Carlingview Manor and Monfort Long-Term Care Centre. They are all owned by large, well-capitalized firms that operate a wide variety of long-term care facilities in Ontario and elsewhere. Each has seen the virus rip through their operations, tornado like, hitting some homes with disproportionate force and leaving others nearly unscathed.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/the-cruelly-disproportionate-spread-of-the-virus-in-ltc-homes