Coronavirus: Bobcaygeon nursing home ‘closer to putting outbreak behind’ them

Staff at the Bobcaygeon, Ont., nursing home ravaged by a deadly coronavirus outbreak believe the worse may be over.

Since an outbreak of COVID-19 was declared on March 20 at Pinecrest Nursing Home, 29 residents, along with a spouse of a resident, have died of COVID-19 complications.

However, the last reported death at the 65-bed facility bed was reported on April 9. Wednesday marked the 13th-straight day administrator Mary Carr has “fortunately” reported no deaths.

“There are fortunately no changes in our home’s COVID-19 status to report since my last update,” she said. “We are pleased to report however that our residents are stable and doing well.”

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Last Friday, 91-year-old resident Lorraine Button was permitted to leave the facility for a walk — the first resident to leave since the outbreak. She had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 1.

The nursing home aims to reintroduce outdoor exercise to its residents and other activities, said Carr.

“Pinecrest continues to engage with our hospital, public health, and provincial Ministry partners to ensure we have the adequate staffing resources required to maintain high-quality care,” she said. “We are grateful to the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit for their continued direction and guidance as we get closer to putting this outbreak behind us.”

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Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the health unit reported three new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the City of Kawartha Lakes, bringing the municipality’s total to 117. The municipality has reported 33 deaths — 29 at Pinecrest.

Outbreak declarations remain in effect at Pinecrest and Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay. Eight cases remain hospitalized.

The health unit also reports 80 of the 117 cases in the City of Kawartha Lakes are now resolved.

All 13 COVID-19 cases in Northumberland County have now been reported as resolved while five of the seven cases in Haliburton County are also resolved. Each county has one hospitalized case and no deaths or facility outbreaks reported.

The health unit notes its data is at least 25-hours behind “real-time” data.