Province takes over management of ninth care home

Seventeen residents at Vaughan facility have died of COVID-19

TORONTO—Ontario said Thursday that it is taking over management of a ninth long-termcare home that is struggling to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.

The province has appointed a hospital to manage Woodbridge Vista Care Community in Vaughan.

William Osler Health System in Brampton will serve as the interim manager of the longterm-care home.

Ministry data show that 17 residents at the home have died of the virus.

Sixty-five residents and 20 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.

Ontario reported 356 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, and 45 more deaths.

That brings the total number of cases in the province to 29,403, including 2,357 deaths and 23,208 cases that have been resolved. More than 20,800 tests were completed in the previous day.

When asked how the province could move to the second stage of its economic reopening plan when hundreds of new COVID cases are reported each day, Premier Doug Ford said that wasn’t the only statistic the government was looking at.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province would need to have adequate testing levels, contact tracing, and hospital capacity in place before it could say when the second stage will begin.

“We need to be prepared ... and those discussions are continuing,” she said.

The province said short-term rentals, including lodges, cabins, cottages, homes and condominiums, will be allowed to resume operations starting Friday at 12:01 a.m.

Tourism Minister Lisa MacLeod told a legislative committee that the pandemic has damaged the province’s tourism industry and she doesn’t expect 2019 visitor levels to return until 2024.

“None of us should be naive to the fact that there will be lasting damage, that many customers are rethinking their old habits,” she said.

The province will need to help the sector, but so will all Ontarians, she said.

“We will focus rebuilding with staycations and domestic travel encouraging Ontarians, and other Canadians, to visit our destinations,” she said.

Meanwhile, former federal health minister Jane Philpott has been appointed a special adviser to help the province design and implement a new health-data platform.

The information will be used to help research and inform the province’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.