Coronavirus: MLHU raising concerns about elderly residents in London area long-term care homes

A death in a London area long-term care home (LTCH) is only a matter of time, according to London’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Wednesday’s daily COVID-19 briefing wth Dr. Chris Mackie and Mayor Ed Holder gave an overview of how the pandemic is developing provincially, with Dr. Mackie focusing on what’s happening in long-term care homes.

Four of the new cases Wednesday were residents in a LTCH following the nine cases that were reported Tuesday.

The total number of residents that have tested positive for COVID-19 in LTCH locally is 13, with five additional cases in retirement homes.

As of Wednesday, the MLHU has reported seven deaths related to COVID-19.

“Fortunately, we have not yet had a death in a long-term care home. However, that’s likely just a matter of time.”

“All visits to long-term care homes have been restricted, so we know staff are doing the best to protect their clients, but it is generally through staff the illness would be brought in to the home,” Mackie said.

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All staff at long-term care homes are now being asked to wear masks to protect residents.

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To manage supplies, Mackie said staff at these homes are asked to only use one to two masks a shift. He said the supply of things like masks seems to be getting better with suppliers ensuring him they will have enough.

On Wednesday, the MLHU reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 162 cases in the region, with 31 cases now resolved.

Although new case numbers seem to be staying steady for the region, but Mackie said that’s not the case for the rest of the province.

Mackie said the percentage of people testing positive has gone up to 17 per cent provincially.

“The 550 cases of coronavirus we saw announced in the past 24 hours, and it comes at a time when our testing rates are way down,” he said.

“This is a worrying development from the perspective of the provincial outbreak, and as we know, London is linked with the province, so what happens in Ontario will happen here as well.”

As of Tuesday, over 84,000 people had been tested for COVID-19 in the province, with 5,276 people testing positive and 1,102 cases still under investigation.

Local testing centres can test people on site. Before going to a test centre people are encouraged to do an at-home assessment online first at COVID19checkup.ca.