COVID-19 infection rate down, deaths up in second pandemic wave
Three long-term-care homes still locked in novel coronavirus outbreaks
While other communities in Ontario struggle with rising COVID-19 infection rates, Niagara has seen its daily case count inch back down into the single digits.
But the post-summer wave of the novel coronavirus has proved no less dangerous to the region’s most vulnerable than it did in the spring.
There have been five local deaths of people infected with the virus since the second wave of COVID-19 began, four of them in the past week and two of those were confirmed Saturday.
Most patients were elderly, although one person was in their late-50s. The St. Catharines Standard has confirmed that two of the people who died recently were residents of Millennium Trail Manor long-termcare home in Niagara Falls, which has been grappling with a COVID-19 outbreak since Sept. 29.
Millennium is one of three sites of persistent outbreaks in Niagara, the other two being Pioneer Elder Care in St. Catharines, which had an outbreak declared on Sept. 22, and Meadows of Dorchester in Niagara Falls, which has been in outbreak mode since Oct. 2.
Interview requests by the Standard to the management of these two homes have gone un
answered.
An administrator of Millennium Trail, Lori Turcotte, confirmed by email the number of resident deaths, along with a third active resident case in the home. However, she would not consent to an interview.
Niagara’s acting medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, said the recent spate of deaths and long-term-care outbreaks shows just how dangerous COVID-19 is and what happens when cases in the community start to rise.
The more cases Niagara has, the greater the chance the virus will reach people most likely have to serious complications from COVID-19.
“What you have to remember is that these deaths are a reflection of the cases a week or two ago, when cases had risen. And when you get more spread of the virus in the community, that increases the risks to longterm care homes,” Hirji said.
“This is why we keep pushing the message of taking the precautions I have talked about many times.”
If a COVID-19 outbreak gets out of control in a long-term care home, it can be difficult get it back under control, Hirji said.
Several factors can play a role in how quickly a home tamps down an outbreak — including how narrow hallways are, if residents can be isolated in single rooms and how rigorous infection control policies are. Hirji said if staff become ill, handling an outbreak becomes even more difficult.
“An outbreak means there is all this extra work to do and if you have staff who are infected, that becomes more onerous,” Hirji said. “This is especially true if it is a small home with limited staff. If the home is part of a corporation or chain of homes, they may be able to bring staff in from other homes to help out.”
Hirji said given how serious the spring long-term-care outbreaks were in Niagara, when residents of three homes made up the bulk of COVID-19 related deaths, the public health department did what it could to prepare homes for a second wave.
During the summer, public health staff visited homes that had not experienced a COVID-19 outbreak to prepare them, including running simulations of what will happen if the virus does get into the home.
The two deaths reported Saturday by the Niagara Health hospital system brings the total number of local residents with the virus who have died to 69.
Fifty-five of them were people over 80, largely retirement home and long-term-care home residents. Eleven were people between the ages of 60 and 79 and three were people aged 40 to 59. There have been no reported deaths of Niagara residents under the age of 40.
The most recent COVID-19 related deaths come as Niagara’s new daily case count appears to have stabilized into the single digits, down from regular double-digit increase a week ago.
There were six cases confirmed on Saturday and another eight on Sunday.