The Canadian Press Published Friday, July 15, 2022 7:22 PM EDT Last Updated on Friday, July 15, 2022 7:22 PM EDT
New COVID-19 outbreaks more than doubled in Ontario long-term care homes in the first week of July, says Public Health Ontario, as the sector sees the impact of a seventh wave of viruses.
The latest weekly report on the virus in Ontario said 42 new outbreaks have been reported in the sector during the week of July 3-9. This is an increase of 110% over the 20 new outbreaks reported the previous week.
Public Health Ontario said there were a total of 97 active outbreaks in the week of July 3 and the Ministry of Long-Term Care said it had increased to 101 households with outbreaks as of Thursday this week.
The ministry said there were 757 active cases among residents and 383 cases among staff.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Long-Term Care said households are expected to follow practices that include support for up-to-date vaccines, timely access to antiviral treatments, visitor detection and use of personal protective equipment.
“Health and safety measures remain in place to help households when COVID-19 outbreaks occur,” Mark Nesbitt said in an email.
Infection prevention and control audits are completed weekly when homes are outbreaking, according to the statement, and every two weeks if homes are not outbreaking. Other temporary measures such as visitor limits during outbreaks may be introduced.
Nesbitt also noted the benefits of vaccination to protect residents. More than 96 percent of eligible long-term care residents had received a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine on July 12, Nesbitt said, and more than 80 percent of those eligible had received the fourth dose.
By the same date, more than 88 percent of eligible staff had received third doses, according to the statement.
Ontario expanded access to fourth doses for all adults this week and Nesbitt said households were encouraged to “share information” about the expansion with staff caregivers and family members.
The latest long-term care statistics come when the province resists a summer wave of infections driven by the BA.5 Omicron subvariant.
Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s medical director of health, said Wednesday that the surge could peak in the next two weeks, although it is difficult to predict trends because the province has limited access to tests. Gold PCR.
This week’s public health update COVID-19 said outbreaks in high-risk settings increased overall by 87% since the last report. Increases have been reported in all congregation settings except prisons.
In addition to the 42 new outbreaks in long-term care homes, 39 outbreaks were recorded in retirement homes during the period July 3-9 and 28 outbreaks in hospitals. Shelters reported 10 new outbreaks and group houses saw 25.
Although case rates are rising in most age groups, Public Health Ontario said the 80-year-old cohort had the highest increase in case rates during the week of July 3, with 37%. The case rate for this age group was “three to 13 times higher than that of other age groups,” the report said.
In a two-week period ending July 9, 44 people aged 80 or older died from COVID-19, Public Health Ontario said. The province has reported a total of 65 deaths from COVID-19 during this period.
Long-term care homes have been particularly affected by COVID-19 outbreaks, although vaccinations have diminished the deadly impact of the virus since residents began receiving vaccinations in late 2020.
Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health in Toronto, said the long-term care population remains vulnerable to COVID-19 and is concerned that risks to them may have fallen “from sight , out of mind “at this stage of the pandemic.
While there was a big push to vaccinate long-term care residents with the initial vaccines, Sinha said now some are lagging behind with vaccinations or may have declining immunity to the virus after receive the fourth vaccinations late last year or early this year. The province has also put an end to the rules that required visitors to be vaccinated from homes.
Sinha said there should be a continued push by the government to ensure residents are aware of their COVID-19 vaccines so that they are protected when virus waves affect the province.
“As we loosen these restrictions, we must remember that the vulnerability of these residents has not actually gone down, and my only concern now is that we have begun to normalize this problem and that we will continually see waves of infection happen.” , he said.
“This will translate into thousands of additional deaths that were really unnecessary, given the fact that we really have the tools to really protect people and support them.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 15, 2022.