2nd doses of Moderna vaccine given to The Village at St. Clair residents, home remains in outbreak
The Windsor long-term care home has five positive COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday
Two months after one of Windsor's deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks, The Village at St. Clair long-term care home is nearly out of the woods as residents and staff have received second shots of the Moderna vaccine.
The Village at St. Clair, which has been in a COVID-19 outbreak since Dec. 8, 2020, is down to four positive resident cases and one staff case after seeing more than 174 residents and 139 staff fall ill. According to provincial data on the outbreak, 57 residents have died as of Tuesday.
In a news release Tuesday, Schlegel Villages, which operates the home, said all eligible residents have gotten the second dose of the vaccine. In addition to that, residents, staff and essential caregivers who were not able to get a first dose have now also received one.
The same goes for Schlegel's other long-term care home in Windsor, the Village of Aspen Lake, which was declared COVID-free on Saturday, the news release said.
The home said residents at its Aspen Lake location are now able to resume some activities including small, safely-distanced group activities and mealtimes together.
"For both of our Windsor Villages and so many other settings, COVID-19 has had a devastating impact," vice-president of operations for Schlegel Villages, Joanne Potts, said in a news release. "Despite the sadness and the loss, however, our teams continue to work with our partners to support residents through it all."
On Dec. 24, the outbreak at the home had gotten so severe that a team of eight Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare staff stepped in to take over some key operations. The biggest issues at the time included under-staffing, as so many were off sick, and poor communication to family members.
Three weeks later, as the home began to get the spread of the disease under control, hospital staff left.
"We are hopeful that these positive trends and accomplishments at St. Clair will enable them to join Aspen Lake in exiting their outbreak in the near future," Potts said in a news release. "It [has] been a long, difficult journey for both villages here in Windsor."