“I was afraid this outbreak would be like the previous ones,” he told CBC News. So far, the outbreak at Villa St. Joseph in Sudbury, Ont., where her mother, Jean, lives, affects 12 residents. Across the province there were 65 long-term care homes that reported cases as of last weekend, according to Public Health Ontario data, as well as 51 nursing homes as of July 2. This week, Ontario’s top doctor confirmed the province is now in its seventh wave of COVID-19, with people over the age of 80 seeing the biggest increase in case rates. The surge, which is already hitting many long-term care staff and residents hard, has some doctors and specialists calling for a bigger push for fourth doses and a rollback of vaccine mandates for long-term care staff. Professor Vivian Stamatopoulos, a long-term care advocate and researcher, says more needs to be done to prevent outbreaks in the sector, including a return to vaccine mandates for staff. (Submitted by Vivian Stamatopoulou) Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Geriatrics at Mount Sinai and University Health Network Hospitals in Toronto, says the fourth doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which seniors are eligible for, are essential to prevent deaths. But, he said, “we need to do a much better job of making sure our residents, staff and families have access to these vaccines.” In his view, the return of a vaccine mandate for staff is critical to protecting the elderly populations they serve. Professor Vivian Stamatopoulos, a long-term care advocate and researcher, says the lifting of the vaccine mandate for long-term care workers, which happened in the spring, means “it’s still a very precarious situation, arguably, more so now than at any time before.” . He said the arrival of the seventh wave should cause the vaccine mandate to be reinstated.
More staff shortages ‘catastrophic’
Terry Crystal’s mother, Marjorie, lives at Southlake Residential Care Village in Newmarket, Ont., a home with some of the highest cases of this seventh wave so far. The unit currently reports 20 healthcare workers with COVID-19, up from 29 a few days ago. There were also 15 residents reported to have the virus from a report filed Wednesday, but that’s down from 47 at the start of the week. Her mother has Parkinson’s and dementia, and the limited social interaction from the lockdowns is making her depressed and causing stress and anxiety, Crystal said. “I’m afraid she’ll lose her will to live,” he said. Terry Crystal worries about her mother’s mental health amid another outbreak at Southlake Residential Care Village where her mother, Marjorie, lives. (Submitted by Terry Crystal) Ian Da Silva, national director of operations for the Ontario Union of Personal Support Workers, which represents nearly 50,000 of those workers, says health care workers being out with COVID-19 in this seventh wave is compounding the challenges limited personnel already in the field. “We’re talking about staff that are already at the breaking point now and to add an infection on top of that, even one or two staff … it would be devastating.” The association receives reports that PSWs are responsible for 30 to 40 people in their wings, he says. “If one of them goes down with COVID, then you can quickly do the math to see how that affects the remaining residents. They’re just not getting care. It’s just not possible.” That’s a concern shared by Julie Pearl, who is the primary caregiver for a dear friend who lives at Villa Colombo Homes for the Aged in Toronto, where at least six health care workers have COVID-19. Perl says even losing a health care worker makes a difference in the care her bedridden friend receives. She says her friend, who is totally cognizant, tells her to use the call button, but it takes a while to call for help. “If it needs to be changed or repositioned, it could wait over an hour,” he said. “For her to be in a dirty diaper? She needs to be changed immediately.”
The family hires private support staff
Jean McConnell’s family made the decision to hire a private assistant during the seventh wave. (Submitted by: Jodie McConnell) Worried about what the outbreak at St. Joseph’s Villa could mean for Jean’s well-being, the McConnell family made a more drastic move to ensure Jean had the support she needed during this outbreak. The family has hired a personal assistant for Jean, but the decision comes at a cost. A few hours of care, delivered three times a week, would cost the family more than $1,000 a month, McConnell said. Other families may be considering similar options, especially if outbreaks continue or become larger. At the Greek 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 reached out to the Long-Term Care Minister to discuss the cases, but was told he was unavailable.
