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

Only 13% of Ontario’s long-term care Covid patients went to hospital: Advocates want to know why

Elizabeth Payne, The Ottawa Citizen

He’d had a good life, he told his family, and didn’t want any extraordinary measures taken at its end. Still, when 88-year-old Douglas Levy became critically ill with COVID-19 in April, struggling to breathe, coping with crushing chest pain and dehydration, a doctor from Queensway-Carleton Hospital who was assisting at Carlingview Manor urged his family to have him transferred to the hospital where he could get better end-of-life care.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/only-13-of-ontarios-long-term-care-covid-patients-went-to-hospital-advocates-want-to-know-why/wcm/32eddbc2-1885-4f23-bc21-a08946536ac8/

Coronavirus: Centenarians recovering from the virus

Sandish Shoker, BBC News, East Midlands

Scientists have said coronavirus affects the elderly population more than any other age group. But amid the stories of suffering, there have also been rays of hope. BBC News hears from three centenarians who have survived Covid-19. Among the many patients who left hospital in Derby after having had Covid-19 was Jane Collins, aged 104. “She’s survived two world wars, multiple recessions, and is still batting,” said Ms Collins’s great niece, Sarah Balmforth.”She still likes the odd sip of champagne, which is what we think has preserved her for so long.” Ms Collins, who lives in the city, spent several weeks in hospital but has since returned to her care home to recover.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-52732899