A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at a third Sarnia-Lambton seniors’ home, but one of the two previously announced by public health officials is now over.

Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia was added to the list of institutional outbreaks after two employees tested positive for the disease.

“We’re still in the process of investigating those,” Dr. Sudit Ranade, Lambton’s medical officer of health, said Friday.

The outbreak at Lambton Meadowview Villa long-term care home near Petrolia has ended. Only one person, an employee, tested positive there and enough time passed to deem it officially over.

The status of one of the region’s hardest-hit facilities, Landmark Village retirement home in Sarnia, hasn’t changed. Thirty-nine of Sarnia-Lambton’s 164 confirmed cases – nine staff and 30 residents – and six of the 14 deaths are linked to Landmark.

As for Vision, public health officials will be investigating the two staffers’ levels of exposure and if they worked at more than one facility, Ranade said.

But the new status won’t change much at the Wellington Street facility.

“Many of the restrictions we would put in place upon declaration of an outbreak have already been implemented across the board for homes that don’t even have outbreaks,” he said. “The difference really here is now to say that we’re just being more vigilant about the possible detection of cases within the home.”

It was already scheduled for mass testing Thursday as health officials ramp up testing at seniors’ homes across the province, Ranade said.

“I can’t verify how complete it was, but I know that many or most of the residents had been tested,” he said. “That’s going to give us a good picture as the days go on with the results coming in.”

The outbreak at Lambton Meadowview was brief, as the lone staffer to test positive was isolated and identified “very quickly” and wasn’t working when they had symptoms, he said. The building also had infection-prevention protocols in place prior to the employee becoming sick, he said.

“I think those were probably the two biggest factors,” he said.

Bluewater Health reported Friday 13 patients were in hospital with COVID-19 – the same as the previous day – while another nine suspected to have the disease were awaiting test results. That’s five less than Thursday.

@ObserverTerry

tbridge@postmedia.com