More than 70 cases in major outbreak at The Village at St. Clair long-term care home in Windsor

The Village at St. Clair, a long-term care facility in Windsor, is reporting a huge outbreak of COVID-19 cases among both its staff and residents. 

According to a post on the Schlegel Villages website, there were 48 cases among the 256 residents at the facility and 25 among its staff.

A message sent to staff on Sunday, which was shared with CBC News, said the outbreak had "spread quickly in the last 24 hours."

"The way it's moving so fast in this home, it's scary," said Tullio Diponti, president of Local Unifor 2458 which represents workers at the facility. 

"Today it became to a point where it was very, very concerning to us and very concerning to the staff that were worried about going in to work."

According to the post on the Schlegel Villages website, the company that owns the facility, the company was in a "massive round of resident and team member testing." 

The numbers on the post don't match the number that was in the message on Sunday from the facility's manager, which was shared with CBC News.

That message said there were 53 cases among residents. That is also the number the union believes to be accurate.

As of Monday evening these numbers were not reflected on the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit's website, which says the outbreak was reported at the facility on Dec. 8 and notes that there are currently four resident cases and one staff case.

CBC has contacted the The Village at St. Clair, Schlegel Villages and the health unit for comment but had not heard back Monday evening. 

Read the message sent to staff:

"Testing throughout The Village continues today," the post on the Schlegel Villages website read.

 "Team members from our central Schlegel Villages support office in Kitchener are on-site and everyone is working together to gain a full understanding of the scope of the outbreak while supporting all of the residents."

Diponti said that workers get tested every week but is uncertain how often residents get tested. 

Diponti said that the facility had problems with getting workers N-95 masks but it was an issue he said he discussed with leadership at the facility that should be resolved Tuesday. 

"I know that they're bringing over a 1,000 tomorrow to that facility and everybody should have an N-95 mask if they want one," he said. 

Though, Diponti added that the directive from the province is that to get an N-95 mask, a worker working directly with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19. 

Workers concerned

A worker speaking on condition of anonymity told the CBC it was very hard to be working at the facility right now.

"We're short staffed beyond belief," she said.

"My managers are coming in to work every possible shift that isn't covered. These people are suffering and they're going to continue to suffer and there's only so much we can do and there's only so much fighting we can do." 

They've got to make sure they've got the PPE is there ready for the workers in order to keep them there and making sure they take care for these residents.- Tullio Diponti

She said it was heartbreaking for the residents to be heading into the holiday season.

"What we can do as team members, we're doing as best we can," she said. "It's hard. It's really hard."

Diponti said that other facilities should be taking note of what's happening and have a plan ready for a situation like this.

"They've got to make sure they've got the PPE is there ready for the workers in order to keep them there and making sure they take care for these residents."