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County taking measures at long-term care homes, cancels museum programs

Simcoe County says it's taking 'many' precautions to help protect vulnerable residents
2018-07-27 Simcoe County Admin 1 RB
The Simcoe County Administration Building in Midhurst. Raymond Bowe/BarrieToday

NEWS RELEASE
COUNTY OF SIMCOE
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Simcoe County is taking many precautions to help protect our vulnerable residents. We are also aligning with proactive steps taken by other large organizations as well as recommendations from other levels of government and health authorities to ensure everyone's safety and wellbeing. 

Long-term Care and Seniors Services

County's procedure​
If you have COVID-19 symptoms, do not enter a Long Term Care home or Seniors Services facility. Please self isolate and contact Telehealth (1-866-797-0000), your local health care provider, or the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (705-721-7520 or 1-877-721-7520) for more information.

If you have travelled to affected areas or have been exposed to a case of COVID-19 in the last 14 days we ask that you please postpone your visit to any of our Long Term Care homes or Seniors Services facilities. ​

​Mandatory screening at Long Term Care Homes and Seniors Services facilities
All LTCSS Staff, Students, Volunteers & Visitors will be “actively" screened for COVID-19 by a dedicated person in each home. This involves questions regarding respiratory symptoms as well as taking the individual's temperature. ANYONE that fails any part of the screening process will be asked to leave our facility and to contact telehealth and or their health care provider.

Impacts to activities and programs

  • ​All visitor entrances in each of our four LTC homes and Seniors Services buildings have been secured allowing entry from only one main door entrance
  • All public community events in our LTCSS facilities will be cancelled for the next four weeks and we will re-evaluate as necessary
  • Main door entrance hours have been reduced to 8:00am – 7:00pm
  • Doors will be locked for remaining hours and visitors will be required to use call system and wait for staff to allow access
  • Campus residents living adjacent to our LTC homes will not be permitted to attend programs or functions in the homes
  • A table will be set-up at the dedicated public entrance, and someone will be present to screen all visitors 
  • Homes have posted notices at entry doors to advise visitors of new precautions

Simcoe County Museum

The County has made the difficult decision to cancel all Museum programming due to the increasing concern about the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The health, safety and wellbeing of all our guests and staff is of utmost importance.

The Museum will remain open to the general public and crowd sizes will be monitored. All guests are asked to use self screening practices recommended by the local Health Unit. The cancellation applies to all March and April programming and further decisions  will be provided as more information is released by local health authorities.

These cancellations impact:

  • All March and April meeting room bookings
  • March Break Day Camps
  • March Break public programs
  • All March and April school groups

Any costs related to these programs will be reimbursed. We appreciate your understanding as we implement measures to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible. ​

Other County ​Services

We are monitoring services such as Paramedics, Ontario Works, Waste Collections and Landfill operations, LINX Transit, Children's Services, and the status of County facilities, and will provide status updates on this page as they become available. 

Continued communications

The County will continue to communicate with the general public regarding COVID-19. For more information on the status of COVID-19 in Simcoe County, please contact the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit at 705-721-7520 or 1-877-721-7520.​

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