Manitoba government 'dropped the ball' on COVID-19 safety in personal care homes: family member

Stricter rules for visitors at Manitoba personal care homes are coming too late, says one Manitoba woman, as COVID-19 outbreaks in three homes have led to a number of recent deaths.

On Thursday, two deaths were reported connected with an outbreak at Third Crossing Manor in Gladstone, while six deaths had been linked to an outbreak at the personal care home in the western community of Benito as of Tuesday.

Most recently, the province declared another outbreak at the Arborg Personal Care Home, where Irene Thomas's aunt Olive Thorvaldson is a resident.

As of this week, designated caregivers must be fully vaccinated to visit with a care home resident in their room, but Thomas is angry people who choose not to be vaccinated were allowed in the homes at all.

"I went to a restaurant yesterday … my daughter and I. We had to show ID [with proof of vaccination]. But a week ago, if I went to see my aunt, I wouldn't have to show ID? Come on," she said.

She doesn't blame the personal care home but said the province has "dropped the ball."

"This all could have been avoided had someone said … 'If you're not vaccinated, you're not allowed in here, because we're supposed to be protecting our elders.' Well, there's no protecting," she said.

Seven residents in her aunt's Interlake care home have tested positive, according to a letter to families signed by clinical team manager Wanda Hicks on Wednesday. No staff have contracted the disease, the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority said.

Visiting is suspended there until the infection prevention and control team is confident the spread is contained, the letter said.

It's not known how COVID-19 got into the care home.

Visitor restrictions

The new requirements for designated caregivers visiting care homes are a response to increasing COVID-19 activity across the province, a Shared Health spokesperson told CBC News last week.

Any designated caregiver who is not fully vaccinated, or refuses to disclose their vaccination status, is still able to visit with a resident, but must make an appointment and meet in a designated visitation room or shelter.

Thomas worries that rule could be too little, too late for her aunt. Although she's fully vaccinated, she could die alone if she gets COVID-19.

Provincial public health officials are working to bolster immunity for seniors by providing third COVID-19 vaccine doses to all eligible adults in personal care homes.

They've been prioritized for third doses because immunity response in older people from previous vaccine doses may wane more quickly over time than for younger people.

A provincial spokesperson said nearly 100 per cent of personal care homes have administered third shots of COVID-19 vaccines to those who want one.

"We expect full completion in [the] coming days," a provincial spokesperson said in an email.

95% of health-care staff vaccinated

Manitoba's biggest care home outbreak right now is Third Crossing Manor in Gladstone, west of Winnipeg. There are currently 68 cases associated with the outbreak, including 30 staff, the province's dashboard says.

The care home is located in the Southern Health Region, which has the lowest vaccine uptake among Manitoba's five health regions.

As of Thursday, 68.8 per cent of eligible people in that region were vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to the provincial average of 87.3 per cent.

The province requires all direct-care workers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing, as part of the public health orders that came into effect on Oct. 18.

Shared Health says more than 95 per cent of all health-care staff in the province are fully immunized.

That includes 3,282 of staff working in health-care in the Southern Health region, as of Monday, a provincial spokesperson said.

Another 440 workers in the region require regular testing because they either are not fully vaccinated or will not disclose their status, while 98 staff are on unpaid leave because they will not comply with public health orders.