As of Tuesday, there has been a spike in confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus at long-term care homes in Nova Scotia.
The total number of confirmed cases at nursing homes is 25, with seven of them residents.
Two of the seven cases have been confirmed by two long-term care homes in the Dartmouth area, Ocean View Continuing Care Centre in Eastern Passage and Admiral Long Term Care Centre.
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In a news release Tuesday, Admiral Long Term Care Centre said five employees and two residents have the virus.
Admiral says both residents are in isolation and all employees who have tested positive are at home in self-isolation.
“We have updated our pandemic plan to address the current situation,” Admiral said in a release. “As part of that plan, we have suspended all non-essential visits and services to our homes, added additional screening measures for staff to ensure that they are well, and increased our already-high standards of disinfecting all areas in our homes.”
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The facility announced last week that three employees from Admiral Long Term Care Centre tested positive.
On Monday, Ocean View Continuing Care Centre also confirmed that one resident has tested positive for COVID-19.
“The impacted resident who has tested positive has been isolated and is managing well at this time,” the release reads. “The next-of-kin of the impacted resident has been alerted.”
Ocean View says an outbreak plan has been implemented in response, which involves cohorting impacted residents in one unit at the facility.
“We are working with officials to determine if any resident or staff who were in close contact with this individual have been affected,” the release says.
“We are taking full precautionary measures as directed by Public Health and we are working closely with the Department of Health & Wellness and Nova Scotia Health Authority to ensure the safety of all.”
As of last week, three staff members and two residents of The Magnolia in Enfield, N.S., have tested positive for COVID-19, but nothing has changed since.
The spokesperson for The Magnolia, Taralee Walsh, said that residents are being monitored twice daily.
“We have some outstanding staff results that we are waiting for from public health, but all staff results back to this point have been negative since the initial cases,” said Walsh.
Northwood nursing home also announced that it now has two Halifax staff members and two residents with confirmed cases of COVID-19.
“We are working with Public Health and the Department of Health and Wellness to complete contact tracing and ensure appropriate measures are put in place,” said Northwood in a statement.
“All known potential staff contacts have been notified and any potential resident contacts are being swabbed and will be on precautions and regularly monitored for symptoms.”
Northwood also noted that residents, clients and families of those affected are being contacted.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.
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