Most Eastern Health long-term care sites have COVID-19 exposures, says head of infection prevention
CBC
Eastern Health's head of infection prevention and control says nearly every long-term care facility or personal care home in eastern Newfoundland has had a COVID-19 exposure.
Dr. Natalie Bridger told CBC News on Tuesday that Eastern Health's list of potential exposure sites is lengthy and changes rapidly.
"It's incredibly difficult to contain this virus because it is spreading quicker than we're able to know that it's even there," Bridger said.
She said exposures at long-term care facilities likely came from staff members who didn't know they were infected, or visitors who were inside the buildings before health authorities tightened restrictions on who is allowed to visit.
"Most of these situations are what we consider congregate living facilities. So you have a bunch of people living under one roof and this has been known as a good risk factor for acquiring COVID infections throughout the pandemic, but even more now."
Newfoundland and Labrador had 3,254 active cases across the province as of Tuesday, with most of them — 1,994 — in the Eastern Health region. A COVID-19 update is expected around 2 p.m. NT on Wednesday.
Bridger said not every long-term care resident has had a COVID-19 booster shot yet, but a quick booster rollout for at-risk residents remains a priority for Eastern Health with cases spiking.
In central and western Newfoundland, medical officer of health Dr. Monika Dutt said it's a similar situation, and community transmission of COVID-19 is having an impact on health-care staff.
"Any time there may be someone who's positive who worked in a facility, we do follow up with facilities," she said.
"So we are seeing that in different places across the regions.… It's something we're seeing across the province."
Eastern Health on Tuesday cancelled all outpatient appointments at the Dr. L.A. Miller Centre in St. John's after five patients tested positive for COVID-19 on one unit.
The health authority said a "small number" of staff members also tested positive but it hasn't confirmed the positive cases are connected to the patients on the unit.
Bridger worries that cases in long-term care will continue to rise.
She said the rise in cases is a result of infections that happened a week or more ago but she hopes public health measures will slow the spread.
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