COVID-19 outbreak at Garden City Manor worsens
Three new COVID-19 cases appeared in two days at St. Catharines long-term-care home
A COVID-19 outbreak at a St. Catharines long-term-care home has sickened three more people in the past two days.
Niagara’s acting medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, said two of the three new cases confirmed in the region Thursday are tied to the outbreak at Garden City Manor.
One of Wednesday’s cases was also connected to the outbreak, meaning at least four people in the home have the viral infection.
Hirji did not specify how many residents or staff have COVID-19. He did say the cases were all confined to a single wing of the residence.
The outbreak was declared June 3 after one resident tested positive. Typically, an outbreak declaration is lifted two weeks after the last confirmed case is discovered. With each new case, that countdown is restarted.
“It is unfortunate because this particular home looked as though it was reaching the end,” said Hirji. He said staff at all Ontario long-term-care homes were tested twice this month. In the case of Garden City Manor, those tests all came back negative, but shortly afterward the resident was confirmed to have been infected after exhibiting symptoms.
“What this shows you is that the testing of asymptomatic people doesn’t yield very useful results very often,” said Hirji.
Because the residents do not leave the home, the virus likely arrived by someone who does come and go, like staff.
The COVID-19 test looks for the genetic markers of the novel coronavirus. Those markers will only show up at a noticeable level if a person has been infected for some time, up to two weeks. If the virus has not reproduced enough in someone’s body, the test may come back negative.
Along with testing of staff, the roommates and neighbours of residents with COVID-19 are being tested at Garden City Manor. Hirji said enhanced cleaning measures and training of staff in the proper use and disposal of personal protective equipment is also being done.
Garden City Manor is one of two Niagara long-term-care homes where COVID-19 outbreaks have been declared. Crescent Park Lodge in Fort Erie has a single case that triggered an outbreak June 18.
This is the second time Garden City Manor has had a COVID-19 outbreak. The first one was declared over on April 24.