Death toll climbs to 18, nurse gives first-hand look inside Parkside outbreak in Regina

Four more residents at Regina's Parkside Extendicare home who had COVID-19 have died, bringing the total death toll in the outbreak to 18.

"As the Saskatchewan Health Authority transitions to leadership of the day-to-day operations of Extendicare Parkside, we are working with Extendicare to continue to strengthen our response to this tragic situation," SHA spokesperson Lisa Thomson said in an email to CBC News Friday afternoon.

The SHA announced it was taking a greater role in the private home earlier this week.

'Cannot confirm how COVID entered Parkside'

As of 3 p.m. Friday, there were 112 active COVID-19 cases among residents and another 75 among staff.

Early in the outbreak, Parkside's administrator, Dan Shiplack, was asked during a virtual town hall with residents' families how COVID had entered the home. 

"The contact tracing has been done and I do believe public health is determining that it did come in by our team members," Shiplack said. 

However, on Friday, Thomson of the SHA said, "We cannot confirm how COVID entered Parkside Extendicare."

Answering the call

The large number of staff who have had to self-isolate has created the need for more workers at the home. 

That's why registered nurse Shawna Borsa volunteered to help out on Thursday. She normally works at Regina General Hospital but agreed to work a shift at Parkside.

She said the staff there are doing a great job under the circumstances.

I'm actually more nervous going to the grocery store than I am at work for sure.- registered nurse Shawna Borsa

"I saw lots of compassion and dignity, and I felt really awful for them because they've been through so much," Borsa said. 

"The staff that work in the nursing care homes are not used to dealing with large amounts of sick people, and right now they have a lot of sick people. So it's a lot to keep up with checking their vital signs, their oxygen supply. So we were just there to help do that sort of work."

'Really made it raw'

The conditions of infected residents varies, Borsa said.

"I was on a wing where everybody was positive for COVID, but not everybody was extremely ill. Some were functioning quite well even though they were positive. So the thing that you have to watch for, though, is how when they do change, they can go downhill quite quickly."

By the end of Borsa's shift, three people had died, she said.

"It really hit home. That really made it raw."

Borsa, who has prior experience working in long-term care, said she wasn't nervous about going to Parkside, even given how many people there are infected.

"I'm pretty confident in my [personal protective equipment] skills and keeping myself safe. I'm actually more nervous going to the grocery store than I am at work for sure."

In its Friday email, the SHA said it's committed to giving families timely information about the outbreak and the health of their loved ones. 

"We are enhancing our communication with residents by implementing a full time resource to respond to direct inquiries from families," Thomson said.