{"id":11962,"date":"2020-04-14T13:25:24","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T17:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/?p=11962"},"modified":"2020-05-25T11:25:34","modified_gmt":"2020-05-25T15:25:34","slug":"im-scared-more-than-half-of-residents-at-ontario-nursing-home-where-15-died-have-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/im-scared-more-than-half-of-residents-at-ontario-nursing-home-where-15-died-have-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m scared\u2019: More than half of residents at Ontario nursing home where 15 died have COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Paolo Stravato was among the first to die after the novel coronavirus slipped into Anson Place, a retirement and nursing home in downtown Hagersville, an Ontario town of about 3,000 people.<\/p>\n

Maria, his wife of 73 years, is still there battling COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Stravato, 95, is one of 15 residents at the 101-bed facility to die from the virus so far; Maria is one of 55 residents who tested positive. Along with 30 staff who also have COVID-19, the virus has hit more than half of the facility\u2019s population, making it among the worst epicentres of the disease in Ontario currently.<\/p>\n

Nursing and retirement homes have become the tragic pointy end of the COVID-19 pandemic across Canada.<\/p>\n


<\/br> Maria and Paolo Stravato.<\/span>
<\/br><\/p>\n

millerfuneralchapel.ca<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nearly half of Canada\u2019s 735 COVID-19 deaths are linked to long term care homes \u2014 and the number of deaths is expected to rise, federal health authorities said Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents of long term care homes are vulnerable to infections due to their communal living spaces, shared health-care providers, exposure to external visitors and transfers from other health-care facilities,\u201d Seniors Minister Deb Schulte said at the federal government\u2019s COVID-19 briefing on Monday.<\/p>\n

In Quebec, a police investigation is underway after 31 residents at a care home in Dorval died under what Quebec Premier Francois Legault alleged was \u201cgross negligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ont., saw 29 COVID-19 linked deaths in its 65-bed home. In Toronto, 22 residents with COVID-19 died at Seven Oaks.<\/p>\n

Eighteen residents at Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver died with COVID-19; 10 at Almonte Country Haven in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

And on and on and on, in communities large and small.<\/p>\n

The first COVID-19 case came to Anson Place Care Centre downstairs, in the retirement home portion of the two-level facility, where the more independent residents live, families were told. Soon, it spread upstairs to the nursing home.<\/p>\n

\u201dIt was quick,\u201d said the Stravatos\u2019s daughter, Mena. \u201cIt didn\u2019t last long. He had a fever, he got congested. They did all they could, they gave him oxygen and made sure he was comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the home first closed its doors to visitors, she dropped her tablet off so her parents could still talk with family. Staff helped her father have a Facetime video chat. When they did it again just two days later, her father was already on oxygen and unresponsive.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at least we got to see him. It was heartbreaking. It was hard not to be there in the end. That\u2019s the worst part,\u201d she said. He died April 5.<\/p>\n

The virus continued to spread among the vulnerable residents.<\/p>\n

<\/img>

<\/br> Anson Place Care Centre in Hagersville, Ont., where more than half of the residents have contracted COVID-19.<\/span>
<\/br><\/p>\n

Peter J. Thompson\/National Post<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMom and dad were together so it was obvious that mom would probably have it as well. They tested dad on a Friday and mom on a Sunday. She just didn\u2019t get it as severe as dad, for whatever reason. She\u2019s still with us and we\u2019re hoping it doesn\u2019t get any worse. I\u2019m not sure how this deadly virus works.\u201d<\/p>\n

The virus spread among staff as well. As workers showed symptoms or tested positive, they had to stop working, leaving colleagues stretched and frightened for their own safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m scared,\u201d said a health-care worker at Anson Place who did not want to be identified. \u201cIt\u2019s exhausting and some of the girls are working 10, 11 or 12 days in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anson Place staff are only allowed to travel between the facility and isolation in their homes, or rooms at a nearby hotel set up by the nursing home, a process set by the local health authority to reduce risk of spreading the virus around the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking care of them the very best we can. We\u2019re treating them like our own,\u201d the worker said.<\/p>\n

On the weekend, new infection control guidelines were issued for long term care and seniors facilities by federal health officials.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/img><\/a><\/p>\n

The guidance includes screening before shift for staff, prohibiting staff with symptoms from coming to work, wearing masks and other personal protective equipment, limiting staff to working in only one facility and restricting visitors.<\/p>\n

Anson Place was already doing much of that in Hagersville, about 35 kilometres southwest of Hamilton.<\/p>\n

Meals are delivered to residents in their rooms and staff are checking for COVID-19 symptoms twice a day, said Lisa Roth, executive director of Anson Place. Staff have the appropriate supplies of protective equipment, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have also supplemented our workforce by recruiting additional direct care and cleaning staff to provide the extra support required during this outbreak,\u201d Roth said.<\/p>\n

Of the COVID-19 positive residents, 36 are in the nursing home and 19 in the retirement residence.<\/p>\n

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, the local public health authority, has been tracking the situation and working with Anson Place to contain the outbreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of the Health Unit\u2019s public health management plan, residents are in self-isolation in their rooms, and staff are wearing full personal protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19,\u201d the health authority said. \u201cAll staff who are caring for residents at Anson Place are in self-isolation, with the exception that they may travel to and from work at the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/img>

<\/br> Words of encouragement and thanks for frontline workers placed on fences at Anson Place Care Centre in Hagersville, Ont.<\/span>
<\/br><\/p>\n

Peter J. Thompson\/National Post<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mena Stravato has been following with alarm the stories from care homes across Canada during the pandemic. She said she feels for the workers as well as residents and family members.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to be hard, especially when the employees got infected. There were so few of them. I know they\u2019re getting more people in to help so its getting better. They are working on it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot put any blame on the staff. I think they did all they could. I admire them for even keep coming in. It would be very scary. They have families of their own, Heaven forbid they infect them as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey deserve a medal,\u201d she said. \u201cOr extra pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 With files from Susan Gamble, Brantford Expositor<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2022 Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Paolo Stravato was among the first to die after the novel coronavirus slipped into Anson Place, a retirement and nursing home in downtown Hagersville, an Ontario town of about 3,000 people.Maria, his wife of 73 years, is still there battling COVID-19.Stravato, 95, is one of 15 residents at the 101-bed facility to die from the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[120,162,161,157],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16655,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11962\/revisions\/16655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}