Burnaby care home outbreak ‘most significant’ in B.C.: health minister

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – A particularly deadly outbreak at a long-term care home in Burnaby is a cruel reminder that the age of COVID-19 is far from over.

The health minister believes the death toll will eventually rise into the double digits — to at least 10 from the current three, as reporting is updated over the coming days.

“Willingdon is currently, by a significant margin, our most significant outbreak, and so that’s why we’re taking the steps we are. But those are the case numbers, and I think you’ll also see an increase in the number of people who’ve passed away reported over the next number of periods related to the Willingdon Care home,” Adrian Dix said Thursday.

As of Tuesday, there were 90 reported infections at the facility, where an outbreak was declared on Sept. 27.

Of those, 21 cases are among staff. The remaining infections are among residents, as are all three deaths.

Dix described what’s happening at the Willingdon Care Centre as “a significant tragedy.”

“What that tells us is all of the steps that Dr. (Bonnie) Henry has described are needed to continue to protect long-term care,” he explained. “We have to continue to take steps to protect long-term care, and that’s why the vaccine mandate came in effect on Tuesday, that’s why we’ve got third doses, that’s why other orders to protect long-term care settings are in place.”

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As of Tuesday, all staff at long-term care facilities are required to be vaccinated to continue working. While the mandate says workers must be fully immunized, there are allowances in place for those who had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before Oct. 12, so long as they undergo rapid testing each day and get their second dose within a certain time frame.

Getting booster shots into the arms of long-term care residents is ongoing.

Requiring all long-term care staff to be vaccinated and providing boosters to residents was one of several recommendations made by B.C.’s seniors advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, who unveiled earlier this month the details of her latest report into COVID-19 and its impacts on some of our most vulnerable.

She reviewed nearly 500 sites, between March 2020 and March 2021, with her findings revealing that more than 75 per cent of outbreaks were in a facility where a staff member was identified as the first case.

The Burnaby home is not the only health care facility, including long-term care, independent living, and assisted living, dealing with an outbreak currently. According to the weekly snapshot provided by the province Tuesday, there were 17 outbreaks. That number was revised on Thursday to 19.