COVID outbreak at St. Clair village
Long-term care facility reporting 89 cases among staff and residents
A long-term care facility in South Windsor is dealing with a major COVID-19 outbreak involving at least 89 cases among residents and staff.
The Village at St. Clair — a site owned by the Schlegel Villages corporation — is the location of the outbreak.
In a public statement on Tuesday evening, general manager Tammy Roberts said the facility has so far had 55 residents test positive for the novel coronavirus, and 34 team members.
“Those team members are at home isolating, and all staff are being tested at minimum every week,” Roberts said.
“We know the effects this virus can have on older adults and those with underlying health conditions, and our team is doing all they can to provide support.”
The Village at St. Clair is located at 1800 Talbot Rd. West, just south of the St. Clair College campus. It has a residential capacity of 256.
Members of the central Schlegel Villages support office have been on site “to gain a full understanding of the scope of the outbreak while supporting all of the residents,” Schlegel Villages stated.
On Tuesday morning, the Windsor-essex County Health Unit said 63 of the cases have been confirmed, while more are under investigation.
The outbreak was first reported to the health unit on Dec. 8, but the numbers rapidly increased at the beginning of this week.
“The information is coming in very quickly, and we are trying to work with the homes and give them the support they need,” said Theresa Marentette, health unit CEO and chief nursing officer.
Dr. Wajid Ahmed, the region's medical officer of health, said he cannot disclose specifics about the outbreak at The Village at St. Clair — but the health unit is working with the facility on containment.
Ahmed emphasized the importance of proper use of personal protective equipment among staff. “This is a difficult time. We know that once (COVID-19) starts to spread, it spreads like wildfire,” he said.
More than 200 workers at The Village at St. Clair are represented by Unifor Local 2458. Tullio DiPonti, president of Local 2458, said his members are feeling distraught and demoralized by the outbreak.
“People are in fear for their lives,” Diponti said on Tuesday. “This is a life-and-death issue.”
Diponti said Local 2458 first learned of a number of positive cases at The Village at St. Clair over the weekend. By Monday, the case count was in the dozens.
Diponti criticized Schlegel Villages, saying the company has not equipped his members with enough N95 masks.
“After nine months of dealing with this pandemic ... here we are in the middle of December, and we're still fighting over N95 masks,” Diponti said.
Diponti said he spoke with a Schlegel Villages representative on Monday, and was told a shipment of 1,000 N95 masks was arriving at the site on Tuesday.
But as of Tuesday morning, DiPonti said Local 2458 members still have grave concerns about lack of appropriate PPE.
“It shouldn't even be a debate,” Diponti argued. “(Schlegel Villages) should have been prepared. They should have automatically had those masks. If you are working with a COVID patient, you need to have a N95 mask.”
Diponti suggested it's time for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care to become involved in the situation.
“I don't think this is an isolated incident. I believe that a lot of these homes are not prepared for the second wave. And it's sad. There are a lot of loved ones in these facilities,” Diponti said.
In the general manager's message on Tuesday evening, Roberts said staff at The Village at St. Clair have never been without access to the proper PPE, including surgical masks, gowns, gloves, face shields, and N95 masks “for use in any aerosolized medical procedure.”
“We also received a large shipment of universal-fit N95 masks today (Tuesday) which are being provided to staff, in addition to the N95 masks that were already in the home,” Roberts said.
Roberts said a new mandate was added on Dec. 11 requiring every non-resident in the facility to wear a face shield on top of a surgical mask at all times, which is above and beyond hospital-based Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) protocols.
Roberts said staff have also met with the site's designated IPAC lead, who confirmed “all of the protocols and PPE available are meeting requirements.”
A Monday update on the Schlegel Villages website states the corporation has been committed since the beginning of the pandemic to be “fully transparent with any identified cases among residents and our team members.”
The “team member” category includes essential caregivers, agency staff, contracted service providers, and care providers contracted by Local Health Integration Units.
“To protect privacy, we will not differentiate, but it is important to know that every person connected to our Villages has the potential to carry the virus in,” Schlegel Villages stated.
A Canadian company, Schlegel Villages owns and operates 19 long-term care and retirement homes across Ontario.