{"id":14265,"date":"2020-05-10T11:33:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-10T15:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/?p=14265"},"modified":"2020-05-17T23:38:55","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T03:38:55","slug":"wide-range-of-symptoms-can-point-to-covid-19-in-seniors-says-b-c-health-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wide-range-of-symptoms-can-point-to-covid-19-in-seniors-says-b-c-health-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"Wide range of symptoms can point to COVID-19 in seniors, says B.C. health officer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

VANCOUVER —
\n\tSeniors who complained of fatigue, confusion or just didn’t seem like themselves were tested for COVID-19, allowing the Vancouver Coastal Health authority to get in front of the virus, a health official says.<\/p>\n

\n\tMedical health officer Dr. Michael Schwandt said they began testing broadly and often, and not just those who had classic symptoms of the virus.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was a decision Schwandt said helped pinpoint developing cases before they could spread in care homes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe found that often times people don’t necessarily declare their symptoms or people with different chronic illnesses might be slower to notice symptoms or attributed to health conditions they already have,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\n\tProvincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said B.C. was \u201chit early and tragically\u201d in the long-term care sector.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver was the first facility to report a COVID-19 infection on March 6 and the outbreak was declared over on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd think of that, it’s been months that that facility has been living with this hanging over them. But we learned from that,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n

\n\tAuthorities took a \u201cswat team approach\u201d to the outbreak with measures that included \u201cvery sensitive surveillance\u201d and testing, Henry told a recent news conference.<\/p>\n

\n\tOutbreaks have been declared in 34 facilities in B.C. since the start of the pandemic, but more than half of those long-term care homes no longer have any cases.<\/p>\n

\n\tHenry said those outbreaks have been responsible for the majority of the deaths in the province.<\/p>\n

\n\tOver 400 residents and staff at B.C. care homes have tested positive for the virus. Vancouver Coastal Health has had 14 outbreaks in long-term homes and two in acute care facilities.<\/p>\n

\n\tJust as infections began in B.C.’s care homes, care facilities for seniors in Ontario and Quebec were also being ravaged by the new coronavirus causing a large proportion of the country’s now more than 4,400 deaths.<\/p>\n

\n\tAbout 80 per cent of Quebec’s pandemic deaths have occurred at long-term care and seniors residences that have been infected with the novel coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than 1,200 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed among residents in Ontario care homes, which account for about half the 478 known deaths.<\/p>\n

\n\tSchwandt said Vancouver Coastal Health learned from the experiences of Quebec and Ontario and what they were seeing in outbreaks internationally.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn a couple of outbreaks, we’ve tested all the staff regardless of symptoms and we have found people who had no symptoms at all and later became ill with COVID-19,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tStaff started extensive use of personal protective equipment, visits were cut off and those diagnosed were isolated.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen they began testing for the virus around the facilities.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn some cases, they found COVID-19 to contaminate equipment or parts of the facility … equipment carts or blood pressure cups,\u201d he said. \u201cThe building itself is of high quality but the risk of contamination within buildings with COVID-19 is something we’ve been learning more about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe buildings were deep cleaned depending on the specific facility, equipment and how much traffic they saw, he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tSchwandt said he recommends \u201cvery proactive\u201d testing within facilities and cautious tracing of known cases.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEven a small amount of contact, we have found, can lead to a transmission between residents and staff and so it’s important to look very closely at even limited contact and monitor them for symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd while the risk of illness from the new coronavirus does seem to be more serious among seniors, Schwandt said several of them have recovered.<\/p>\n

\n\tDr. Roger Wong, a clinical professor of geriatric medicine at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of medicine, said the pandemic has unmasked a number of serious issues faced by long-term care facilities.<\/p>\n

\n\tNot only do the care facilities need to address infection prevention and control but also underlying physical- and mental-health conditions, he said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThose seniors who have more severe form of dementia, they are definitely at higher risk of COVID-19,\u201d Wong said.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlzheimer’s patients tend to wander and might become infected in their travel through the facility, he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile measures such as testing, tracing, extensive use of personal protective equipment and cleaning can help combat the spread of the virus, Wong said a \u201cparadigm shift in the underlying culture and understanding and value of these homes\u201d is required to help control future infections.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe said these aren’t just facilities for seniors, they are their homes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat understanding will drive further change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2020.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER — Seniors who complained of fatigue, confusion or just didn’t seem like themselves were tested for COVID-19, allowing the Vancouver Coastal Health authority to get in front of the virus, a health official says. Medical health officer Dr. Michael Schwandt said they began testing broadly and often, and not just those who had classic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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\/14265"}],"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=14265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15347,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14265\/revisions\/15347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airpurifierspecialist.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}