A set of recent deaths at Garden City Manor in St Catharines due to COVID-19 has now left the region's death toll at 64 in an outbreak that health officials say should have been cleared by now, had all procedures been followed properly.
“It has been lingering and worsened a lot. Whenever there is an outbreak lasting this long, there is an issue with infection control patterns,” said regional Acting Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji.
At least 2 deaths connected to the home drove the count from 62 over the weekend.
The region reports death to COVID-19 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Hirji said a ‘small double-digit number’ of cases, some recovered, has left the outbreak-stamp on the facility after a first case was found at the home in June, and that regional health staff is in continuous contact with the home.
After the weekend, the region added 9 new cases of COVID-19 to the total of confirmed cases after 3 staff members tested positive at Linhaven nursing home in St Catharines.
One of the other cases, that followed no particular pattern said Hirji, was found in a Thorold resident.
Hirji said Monday's announcement that excluded Niagara from Stage 3 of the provincial reopening was not surprising, as the stages are 4 weeks apart from each other, and Niagara was excluded in the previous pool of regions allowed to open up.
“Looking at the 24 regions that enter stage 3 now, we can see that they are exactly the ones that were allowed in the previous announcement.”
Hirji said it is a good idea for Niagara business owners that have not been allowed to open yet, to start preparing.
“Right now we are on a trend for some good news coming next week,” said Hirji, adding that measures like social distancing, hand washing and wearing a mask are still paramount to the continued success.
