Seven new deaths at care homes
Hinshaw easing restrictions on visits for healthy senior residents
Seven more residents of longterm care homes in Calgary have died of COVID-19, including six at a southeast facility over the past week, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Wednesday.
That raises Alberta’s death toll to 87 related to the pandemic. The province also recorded 315 new cases of the coronavirus, for a total of 5,165 since the outbreak began,
Hinshaw said in her daily update.
Outbreaks at Alberta’s continuing-care sites remain a concern, according to Hinshaw, who reported six deaths at Clifton Manor in southeast Calgary over the past week.
The facility, operated by the Brenda Strafford Foundation, has now recorded 26 cases of COVID-19 in residents and 16 in staff since its outbreak began April 8. Seven residents of the facility have died due to infection from
COVID -19.
“Continuing-care centres across the country have, unfortunately, become the epicentre for the tragic impact of COVID-19,” said Mike Conroy, president and CEO of the Brenda Strafford Foundation.
“We extend our most sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of these residents, and to all those that knew them. These residents will be missed and remembered.”
There have now been 503 cases of the virus in continuing-care facilities across Alberta, including 59 deaths.
“This shows the power of this virus in a closed environment,”
Hinshaw said.
“Outbreaks in these facilities remain a concern for many, including public health officials, families, operators, staff and, of course, the residents of those facilities.”
NEW ORDERS FOR SENIORS HOMES AND PALLIATIVECARE PATIENTS
On Wednesday, Hinshaw also ordered new directives for residents at long-term care facilities, conceding that restrictions in place at these sites, designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, have resulted in negative effects on residents’ quality of life.
“As we learn to live with COVID, we need to continue to make adjustments,” she said.
“The measures we have put in place over these last weeks are necessary to protect those in longterm care and other facilities. But I also know they are causing many residents to feel further in isolation.”
Residents who are symptom-free and not in isolation will be allowed to enjoy outdoor visits with a designated “essential” visitor and one other person.
Hinshaw said that while outside, all necessary precautions must still be taken to prevent exposure to the virus, such as requiring visitors to wear masks and maintaining physical distancing.
But she said it’s important to look after the mental health of residents and their family members.
“Maintaining connections with family and friends is paramount during the pandemic, especially for residents in continuing-care and licensed supportive-living settings,” she said.
The province will also make exemptions for those at end-of-life stages, which refers to the two weeks prior to death. Hinshaw said individuals who are dying should be able to have loved ones at their side, while still following public health guidance to ensure safety.
Up to two visitors at a time will be permitted to visit a patient who is dying, as long as physical distancing can be maintained. The order does not apply to hospice settings.
Hinshaw also ordered that any resident of a seniors home with the mildest of symptoms, such as a hoarse voice or muscle ache, be immediately tested for COVID -19 and isolated until results come back.
When a positive case of the virus is identified, all residents living in the same unit must now be tested “even if they are feeling fine and show no symptoms,” she said.
“Although testing someone without symptoms is only a snapshot in time and does not stop the need to isolate for 14 days in close contacts of confirmed cases, it can help to identify cases before symptoms start, helping to better control an outbreak,” Hinshaw said.
Public health protocols for care home staff, such as wearing protective equipment and being limited to working at just one site, remain in place.
CALGARY REMAINS HOT SPOT AS RESTRICTIONS TO BE RELAXED
Alberta Health Services’ Calgary zone — which extends as far as the Rocky Mountain parks to the west, Didsbury to the north, Gleichen to the east and Claresholm to the south — remains the province’s hot spot for rising COVID -19 cases, accounting for roughly 68 per cent of all infections in Alberta.
A High River meat-packing plant at the centre of the province’s largest COVID-19 outbreak has seen 821 infections among workers. The Cargill meat-processing plant, which falls within the Calgary zone, announced Wednesday it will reopen May 4 after a twoweek shutdown.
At the JBS meat-processing plant in Brooks, 276 cases among employees and contractors have been recorded.
Premier Jason Kenney unveiled new modelling projections on Tuesday, which estimated reduced hospitalizations and intensive-care admissions in Alberta at the virus’ peak than previously forecasted.
Kenney said the new figures demonstrate that Albertans have largely adhered to social distancing measures. The projections mean the province could likely begin reopening its economy through a phased approach beginning in May, he added.
Details surrounding the province’s economic relaunch are expected by the end of this week.
But Hinshaw said some measures, such as maintaining two metres distance from others, would remain in place for “many, many months to come.”
“We shouldn’t be anticipating that those kinds of measures will be going away,” said Hinshaw, adding that Alberta hasn’t “escaped the threat of the virus.”
She said Albertans have helped prevent rapid spread of the virus predicted in the province’s earlier models.
“As we look to open up again, we need to make sure that we don’t open so quickly that we simply defer that prediction … but that we actually avoid it,” said Hinshaw.
The measures we have put in place over these last weeks are necessary to protect those in long-term care and other facilities. But I also know they are causing many residents to feel further in isolation.