Thirteen Anson Place residents recover from COVID-19
After weeks of self-isolation, retirement home tenants can leave their rooms
Thirteen residents of Anson Place Care Centre in Hagersville have recovered from COVID-19 in what could be a turning point for the beleaguered long-term care home.
“This is very encouraging news,” said executive director Lisa Roth, whose facility was hit with one of the deadliest outbreaks in the province.
The health unit cleared the residents after they tested negative on two separate tests conducted at least 24 hours apart.
The recovered residents all live on Anson Place’s retirement floor, where the active COVID-19 caseload has dropped from 17 to four. Roth said the majority of staff members on the retirement floor have also recovered and will be back to work “in the coming days.”
This sign of progress at controlling the outbreak means that after weeks of self-isolation, residents on the retirement floor can finally leave their rooms.
“I think the conditions on the retirement home side are sufficient now that people will be able to walk
in the hallways in such a way that they don’t have an opportunity to cause any further transmission,” said Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, Haldimand-Norfolk’s chief medical officer of health.
There has been no change on the long-term care floor, where 28 residents remain COVIDpositive. But with a second round of retesting now complete
and patients showing what she called “signs of improvement and recovery,” Roth hopes there will be more good news to share this week as the test results come in.
Staff members who previously only travelled between their homes and Anson Place can now make essential trips around the community, just like any other resident who is not in quarantine.
The COVID-related death toll at Anson Place remains at 27, and 22 infected employees remain
off work. Nesathurai confirmed on Monday that two residents who died in recent weeks had COVID-19, but the doctor on-site ruled that the disease was not their cause of death, and therefore those deaths are not counted by the health unit as COVIDrelated.
J.P. Antonacci’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about the regions of Haldimand and Norfolk.