Two more people at a continuing care centre in south Edmonton have died due to COVID-19 amid an outbreak at the facility.
The Good Samaritan Society reported the deaths at the Southgate Care Centre in an update on its website on Sunday afternoon. The death toll due to COVID-19 at the centre now sits at 31.
Alberta Health said the people who died were both women — one in her 80s and one in her 100s.
According to the society, there were nine active COVID-19 cases in residents and eight active cases in employees as of Sunday afternoon. So far, 39 residents and 25 employees have recovered from the disease, according to the Good Samaritan Society.
In an update Monday afternoon, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health said there were just three active cases of COVID-19 at the Good Samaritan Southgate Care Centre and 80 recovered cases.
“The last case to be diagnosed was earlier this month. The end of the outbreak would be 28 days after that last case was identified,” Dr. Deena Hinhsaw said Monday.
“We wait two incubation periods with no new cases before an outbreak is declared over.”
The COVID-19 outbreak was declared at the centre in June.
On Aug. 10, Hinshaw announced the province has allowed extra staff to be brought in to the facility despite Alberta’s single-site staffing rule.
Earlier in the pandemic, Alberta had adopted a rule that staff can only work at a single continuing care site. The measure was brought in to mitigate the potential for spreading the coronavirus.
Hinshaw said staffing shortages at Good Samaritan Southgate were identified in late July and added that of the staff brought in to help, most are currently not working at other facilities. Hinshaw said on Aug. 10:
“I don’t make exemptions lightly.”
Hinshaw said it is “essential that sufficient staff be in place” to ensure that not only the outbreak can be managed but also to ensure residents at such facilities are able to be cared for.
On Monday, Hinshaw said the current staffing exemption is in place until Aug. 31, but it could be extended if needed.
“We will be watching to see if there are still staffing challenges, if that exemption is still needed,” she explained.
“I anticipate as soon as the outbreak is over there will be no additional staffing challenges. We are working closely with Alberta Health Services, as they are with the Good Samaritan group, to find out what that trend is like and make sure that staffing is back to normal and that the residents get the appropriate care, which is the reason, of course, that the exemption was put in place in the first place.”
In a letter sent home to families of residents on Aug. 21, the interim president and CEO of the Good Samaritan Society said it continues to work closely with Alberta Health Services and public health on its outbreak response management and the society remains vigilant.
“Extensive work continues to ensure that this virus does not spread and that our residents and employees are safe,” Michelle Bonnici wrote.
A total of 258 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Alberta since Friday. The numbers break down as 83 confirmed cases on Friday, 106 on Saturday and 69 on Sunday. Four additional deaths due to COVID-19 were also reported on Monday — two occurred on Friday and two occurred on Sunday, according to Hinshaw.