Peterborough Public Health says it has completed testing for the coronavirus in all eight area long-term care homes ahead of the province’s May 15 deadline.
On Tuesday night, the health unit stated all eight long-term care homes in its jurisdiction have been tested for the coronavirus. Medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra said that includes nearly 1,000 residents and 1,000 staff in the city of Peterborough, Peterborough County, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation.
On Wednesday, Salvaterra said the focus is now on 12 retirement homes.
“We are on track to complete this by May 12,” said Salvaterra, noting staff in ER child-care centres will begin Thursday.
She says the enhanced surveillance has increased overall test numbers to close to 5,000, with the “vast majority” returning negative. As of late Tuesday afternoon, there were 67 confirmed cases in the health unit’s jurisdiction. Six of them have been hospitalized and there have been two deaths.
Outbreaks remain at Peterborough Retirement Residence, St. Joseph’s at Fleming long-term care and Extendicare Lakefield. An outbreak at St John’s Centre in Peterborough has been resolved, she added.
She noted an outbreak at Empress Gardens Retirement Residence in Peterborough was rescinded following an error at Bio-Test Laboratories in Ottawa last week, which reported false positives on 22 specimens. Salvaterra said 17 of 22 specimens have been retested and remain “under investigation.”
Only one of the cases has been confirmed positive with additional testing. As a result, a number of previously positive cases have been rescinded.
“It appears that a spike (in positive cases) did not take place,” said Salvaterra, noting Bio-Test was “very proactive” in notifying the health unit about the error.
Earlier this week, Premier Doug Ford chastised some provincial medical officers for “falling behind” on coronavirus testing.
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But Salvaterra says the health unit and its partners are “working very well” to meet the premier’s targets and expectations. Last month, the health unit began volunteer testing of staff and residents at long-term care homes.
“We’ve gone above and beyond what the premier has required from local public health agencies,” she said.
Salvaterra noted she has not issued any fines under the Class Section 22 order of the Health Protection and Promotion Act, which targets individuals who fail to self-isolate after they have been identified as being diagnosed with COVID-19.
“We continue to get very good compliance from people who are awaiting test results or are ill,” she said.
Walmart Cases
On Monday, Walmart Canada confirmed two employees at the Chemong Road store in Peterborough tested positive for the coronavirus last month. They last worked at the store on April 21.
Salvaterra said she didn’t know what roles the employees held but noted one of them did not fall ill at work and was a close contact of the first individual. She noted a risk assessment conducted by the health unit determined no further public notice was required and that the employees’ close contacts were notified and asked to monitor for symptoms.
She said it’s safe to shop at the store but that people should assume the virus is “in the community” and need to take precautions. That includes only shopping once a week, not bringing children shopping and using a designated shopper for individuals over the age of 70.
Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef and health unit board chair Andy Letham were also part of Wednesday’s media conference. They both thanked the health unit for their continued efforts during the pandemic.
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