KFL&A Public Health confirms COVID-19 outbreak at long-term care facility in region

A long-term care facility within the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) region is dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, KFL&A Public Health confirmed on Wednesday, Apr. 1, 2020.

According to Cathy Szabo, President and CEO of Providence Care, a staff member at Providence Manor tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2020. As a result, an outbreak was declared on one of the resident home areas at Providence Manor.

“There are no residents with COVID-19 at this time, but we are closely monitoring individuals on the impacted resident home area. In addition to our infection prevention measures already in place including actively screening all staff daily prior to their shifts, those working on the impacted resident home area will also wear appropriate personal protective equipment while caring for individuals for their safety,” Szabo said. “I want to ensure families and the community we are implementing every safety precaution possible at Providence Manor to protect their loved ones and our staff. We know these are stressful times but please know our teams are doing everything in their power to keep people safe.”

According to Providence Care, All staff, residents and their family members that met the criteria for close contact have been informed about the confirmed case and the subsequent outbreak, and will be monitored for the next 14 days for signs and symptoms. Providence Care has also reached out to all residents at the long-term care home and their family members to inform them about the positive case. The ward where the worker who tested positive had been working, the Montreal Ward, has been put on quarantine. Dr. Kieran Moore, Medical Officer of Health for KFL&A, said that, given the close quarters of long-term care facilities like Providence Manor, the presence of COVID-19 in such facilities is very dangerous, however, the worker who tested positive acted quickly upon the first signs of symptoms, and no patients have tested positive.

Additionally, a third member of staff at Providence Care Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2020. According to Szabo, no patients at that hospital have tested positive for the virus. Working with  KFL&A Public Health, all staff and patients identified as having met the criteria for close contact with the confirmed cases have been contacted and placed on quarantine to monitor for signs and symptoms over the next 14 days, Providence Care said. According to Dr. Moore, Medical Officer of Health for KFL&A, two of the Providence Care workers that tested positive were working in the same area, and the other was working in a different area. The areas these workers had worked in are now closed and under quarantine. Moore said the tracing and contacting of all those who may have had contact with any of the infected workers is currently being carried out.

Currently only essential visitors are permitted at Providence Care Hospital.

For confidentiality reasons Providence Care is not able to share any identifiable or additional information on any of the confirmed COVID-19 cases or potential cases.

“These are unprecedented times but we are actively monitoring all Providence Care sites and working diligently to ensure our staff and the people who entrust us with their care are safe and protected. While we’re doing our best to keep the public informed our number one priority is the safety of our staff and the people we serve, and making sure we’re communicating to them the most up to date information first,” says Szabo.

As of 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the KFL&A region remained at 43. According to Dr. Moore, the cases announced by Providence Manor and Providence Care today are included in that number.

According to KFL&A Public Health, three of those cases that have tested positive in the region are now hospitalized.