Jodie McConnell said that as soon as she learned that there was another outbreak of COVID-19 in her mother’s long-term care home she panicked.
“I was afraid this outbreak would be like the previous ones,” he told CBC News.
So far, the outbreak in St. Joseph’s Villa in Sudbury, Ontario, where his mother, Jean, lives, is affecting 12 residents. Across the province, there were 65 long-term care homes that reported outbreaks last weekend, according to data from Public Health Ontario, as well as 51 nursing homes on July 2.
This week, Ontario’s best doctor confirmed that the province is now in its seventh wave of COVID-19, with those over 80 seeing the sharpest rise in case rates. The wave, which is already severely affecting long-term care staff and residents, is prompting some doctors and experts to push for a fourth dose and the reinstatement of vaccine mandates for long-term care staff. .
Professor Vivian Stamatopoulos, an advocate and researcher for long-term care, says more needs to be done to prevent outbreaks in the sector, including a return to vaccine mandates for staff. (Submitted by: Vivian Stamatopoulos)
Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Mount Sinai and Toronto University Health Network hospitals, says the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, for which seniors are eligible, is essential to prevent dead. But, he said, “we need to do a much better job of getting our residents, staff and their families to access these vaccines.”
In his view, the return of a vaccine mandate for staff is critical to protecting the larger populations they serve.
Professor Vivian Stamatopoulos, an advocate and researcher on long-term care, says the removal of the vaccination mandate for workers in long-term care homes, which occurred in the spring, means that “it is still a very precarious situation, possibly more now than at any time before. “
He said the arrival of the seventh wave should lead to the re-establishment of the vaccine mandate.
More “devastating” staff shortages
Terry Crystal’s mother, Marjorie, lives in Southlake Residential Care Village in Newmarket, Ontario, a home with some of the highest case counts of this seventh wave to date. Currently, the facility reports 20 health workers with COVID-19, a figure that reached 29 a few days ago.
There were also 15 residents reported having the virus according to a report released Wednesday, but that is down from 47 earlier in the week.
Her mother has Parkinson’s and dementia and the limited social interaction of the confinements is making her depressed and causing stress and anxiety, Crystal said.
“I’m afraid he’ll lose the urge to live,” he said.
Terry Crystal worries about his mother’s mental health amid another outbreak in Southlake Residential Care Village where his mother, Marjorie, lives. (Submitted by Terry Crystal)
Ian Da Silva, national operations director for the Ontario Personal Support Workers Association, which represents about 50,000 of these workers, says health workers who do not have COVID-19 in this seventh wave are getting worse. the challenges of staff shortages that are already present in the field.
“We’re talking about staff that has already spread to the breaking point and adding an infection to it, even one or two employees … would be devastating.”
The association is receiving reports that PSWs are responsible for between 30 and 40 people on their wings, he says.
“If one of them falls with COVID, you can do the calculations quickly to see how this affects the remaining residents. They just don’t get care. It’s just not possible.”
This is a concern shared by Julie Perl, who is the primary caregiver of a dear friend who lives at Villa Colombo Homes for the Aged in Toronto, where at least six health workers have COVID-19.
Perl says that even losing a health worker makes a difference to caring for her friend, who is bedridden, she receives.
She says her friend, who is completely cognitive, tells her that she uses the call button, but that it takes a while to get help.
“If you need to change it or reposition it, you could wait more than an hour,” he said. “To be with a dirty diaper? It should be changed immediately.”
Family hires a private support worker
Jean McConnell’s family made the decision to hire a private worker during the seventh wave. (Submitted by: Jodie McConnell)
Concerned about what the epidemic in the Village of St. Joseph for Jean’s well-being, the McConnell family made a more drastic move to ensure Jean has the support he needs during this wave.
The family has hired a private worker for Jean, but the decision comes at a cost. A couple of hours of care, delivered three times a week, will cost the family more than $ 1,000 a month, McConnell said.
Other families may be considering similar options, especially if outbreaks continue or increase.
At the Hellenic Center for the Elderly in Toronto and the Tilbury Nursing Home in Windsor-Essex, for example, more than a quarter of residents have COVID-19, while several staff members are also out.
CBC News gave the Minister of Long-Term Care the opportunity to talk about the outbreaks, but was told it was not available.