Key takeaways:
- As of Monday, all essential care partners must be fully vaccinated before visiting Manitoba hospitals and care institutions.
- Skibinski said he doesn’t want his father to fall between the cracks like so many others during COVID’s first wave.
Essential care partners must be completely vaccinated to visit Manitoba hospitals and care facilities as of Monday. Still, with outbreaks at many personal care homes, some argue the province needs to do more to avoid a bad conclusion.
For the past four months, John Skibinski’s father has been residing in Arborg Personal Care Home. Last week, he was informed that the care home had been placed on lockdown due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
“Which keeps all of the patients in their rooms, with no interaction for food or recreation,” Skibinski explained.
According to the province’s website, nine persons were infected with COVID-19 at Arborg Personal Care Home as of Monday, all of whom are not employees.
Also read: Seven deaths have been reported in Manitoba in the previous 3 days due to Covid-19
Skibinski said he doesn’t want his father to fall between the cracks like so many others during COVID’s first wave.
“We’re on our fourth wave now, and we simply don’t want our father to be a victim.”
According to Atria Retirement, the business that administers the Amber Meadow Retirement Community in Winnipeg, instances have risen dramatically in just a few weeks.
Cam Johnson, Regional Vice President of Atria Retirement, said in a statement to CTV News:
“Three residents tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-November. When these cases were discovered, we immediately increased safeguards, including contact tracing-based follow-up testing, food delivery to residents’ apartments, and restricted visitors to just needed visitors. “A total of 26 residents, all of whom had previously been vaccinated, tested positive.”
Two of the residents who tested positive have since died, according to Johnson.
Outbreaks have also been declared at Third Crossing Manor in Gladstone, where there are already 70 cases of COVID-19, two of which have resulted in deaths.
There have been 25 instances at Benito Personal Care Home, including six deaths.
Staffing levels in personal care facilities are down roughly 30% nationwide, according to Laura Tamblyn-Watts, CEO of CanAge, Canada’s national senior advocacy organization, and those numbers are similar in Manitoba.
“We’ve never had a personnel shortage like this before,” Tamblyn-Watts added.
“Manitoba needs to call out for help and support in a proactive manner, whether through the military or the Red Cross or from anyplace.”
Manitoba Health and Seniors Care representative said, in part:
“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us a lot of valuable insights that will help us respond to pandemics in the future.” Our government has committed to adopting all 17 Stevenson Review recommendations to improve care for Manitobans in all 125 personal care homes in the province, in addition to prioritizing personal care home residents for a third COVID-19 vaccine.”
Arborg Personal Care Home, according to Skibinski, requires additional personnel on the ground.
“They’ll have to hire additional people to help out, even if it’s only with the basics.”
The province had recorded five new outbreaks as of Monday, two of which were in Winnipeg.
Holy Family Home and the Grace Hospital, 4 North surgery unit, are among them.
In the Lawnside unit of the Manitoba Development Centre in Portage la Prairie, there is an outbreak.
In addition to the Village View Lodge assisted living facility in Plumas and the Country Meadows personal care home in Neepawa, there were outbreaks at the Village View Lodge assisted living facility in Plumas and the Nation Meadow personal care home in Neepawa.
On the province’s Pandemic Response System, each facility has been upgraded to red or critical status.
Source: Global News
Get Canada and Manitoba’s top News, Market news, and other worldwide news only on Manitoba Daily.
