Another outbreak has been declared at a Barrie long-term care facility, this time at Whispering Pines Retirement Residence.
Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for Simcoe Muskoka region, announced the outbreak today, saying the health unit just got word one of the staff at the facility has tested positive.
“We are carrying out our investigation,” said Gardner.
In previous outbreaks, the health unit has organized testing for every staff member and resident at the facility.
Testing is still underway at three other long-term care facilities in Barrie.
At Owen Hill Care Community, seven residents and four staff have tested positive. Garder confirmed the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has worked with local assessment centres and Owen Hill to test 121 people, including 54 residents and 67 staff members. Owen HIll is a 57-bed facility according to the Ministry of Long-term Care.
At Woods Park, two staff have tested positive, and tests have been done for 272 people including 161 staff and 111 residents. Woods Park is a 123-bed facility in Barrie.
At IOOF, one staff member has tested positive, and there have been 159 residents and 286 staff tested. IOOF Seniors Home in Barrie is a 182-bed facility.
At Bradford Valley Care Community, there have been 11 staff and 34 residents confirmed positive for COVID-19. Nine residents have died, one has recovered and six staff have recovered. In total, 165 staff and 249 residents have been tested. There are 246 beds at that facility.
Gardner said not all the results have come back from those tests yet.
In Waubaushene, Bayview Retirement Home is also in outbreak with one staff member testing positive. Gardner didn’t report testing numbers for this facility.
Over the next two weeks, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit will be leading an effort to test every single resident and staff member in every long-term care facility in the region.
The testing has been mandated by the province.
In total there will be 3,550 residents and 4,250 staff tested at 29 long-term care facilities plus one extended care centre on Rama in the next two weeks.
Gardner said it’s a big task.
“We’ve got a schedule that’s very aggressive in order to achieve that,” said Gardner. “It will be a challenge to accomplish but that is our goal.”
