Burlington long term care home trying to control COVID-19 outbreak involving delta variant

A long term care home in Burlington is dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that involves the delta variant of concern and that has resulted in 17 active cases as of Saturday.

Sixteen residents and one staff member at The Village of Tansley Woods have tested positive for the delta variant after Halton Public Health first declared the outbreak on June 28. The home is located on Upper Middle Road.

When the outbreak began, there were just three confirmed cases.

Jo-Anna Gurd, general manager of home, told the CBC News in an email on Saturday that public health officials were at the home on Friday to conduct an independent infection prevention and testing audit.

"The Village has added extra team members in the affected neighbourhoods, and is doing everything possible to prevent further infections and support everyone in the Village," Gurd said.

In response to the outbreak of the highly contagious variant, the home is holding a mobile vaccination clinic on site on Wednesday, July 7. It has held clinics before to vaccinate staff and residents.

"Currently, 86 per cent of team members have received their first dose," Gurd said.

"We anticipate the number of staff who are fully vaccinated to increase after this Wednesday's clinic and following our intensive education and promotion efforts."

There are 64 active cases of COVID-19 in Halton Region, according to Halton Public Health.

According to provincial data, Halton Region reported 22 new cases on Saturday. Provincially, daily new cases have hovered around the 200 mark for a week.