Care-home resident died of COVID-19

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This article was published 25/04/2020 (1717 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The operator of a personal care home in Grant Park has confirmed one of its residents died from complications of the novel coronavirus in mid-April.

Revera Inc. chief medical officer Dr. Rhonda Collins said in a statement dated April 24 the resident had lived at the Poseidon Care Centre (70 Poseidon Bay) and died during a stay in hospital.

A second case of COVID-19 at the personal care home was also identified on April 6, Collins stated. The resident remains in isolation at the care home.

Collins said the company first learned a resident at Poseidon Care Centre had contracted COVID-19 on April 2, and he was in hospital when the diagnosis was confirmed.

The centre subsequently instituted “full outbreak protocols.”

“We are working closely with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and are following pandemic outbreak protocols and infection control practices,” Collins said in a statement. “All residents are monitored closely for symptoms and all staff are screened at the beginning and end of their shift.

“All staff providing care for residents in isolation (positive or symptomatic) must wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) which includes a mask, face shield, gloves and gown. All staff are required to wear a surgical mask in the residence at all times.”

The company operates seven personal long term care homes in Winnipeg and has facilities across the country.

In other parts of Canada — British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec especially — outbreaks at nursing homes have been significant contributors to the death toll from COVID-19. In Quebec, where one home is under investigation for what that province’s premier alleged is “professional negligence,” more than half of deaths have been at care homes.

On April 10, provincial chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin announced a Winnipeg man in his 70s had died from complications of the novel coronavirus after spending time in a personal care home.

During the daily press briefing where the death was announced — the fourth in the province — Roussin said a public health investigation indicated the man hadn’t been infectious while at the facility.

No other care home residents were believed to have been exposed to the virus through contact with the man, Roussin said at the time. Six Manitobans who have contracted COVID-19 have died.

A Winnipeg staffer with Revera Inc., which is headquartered out of Ontario, also tested positive for COVID-19 on April 7. The worker had been stationed at the company’s downtown care home, Parkview Place Long Term Care Home, at 440 Edmonton St.

The staff member had last worked on April 2 at the Parkview Place and went into self isolation, the company said.

Collins said Friday the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority declared “the COVID-19 outbreak at the Parkview Place Long Term Care Home to be over” on April 17.

Shared Health and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority did not respond to a request Sunday afternoon to confirm the outbreak had been resolved or what measures are used to constitute an outbreak at a personal care home.

“We can assure you that we are not letting our guard down now that this outbreak is over,” Collins stated. “We are maintaining our vigilance, monitoring residents and screening staff for symptoms, and ensuring that staff wear surgical masks at all times.”

More than two dozen Revera facilities across Canada have had confirmed COVID-19 cases, so far.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca