Families of those in the Manoir Notre-Dame special-care home say the outbreak of COVID-19 is a reminder that the pandemic is still near, after 13 residents and four staff members tested positive.
The daughter of an 89-year-old resident at Notre-Dame says it’s hard to find the words to describe the situation.
“At first I was in denial almost,” said Anne Marie Johnson whose mother has been at the care home for four years.
New Brunswick health officials declared an outbreak at the Moncton facility on Tuesday when two residents tested positive for the coronavirus. On Wednesday, an additional 17 cases linked to the facility were reported.
This is New Brunswick’s largest surge of cases in one day to date.
“It’s real… And it’s home now for me,” said Johnson.
Johnson said on early Thursday afternoon, she still didn’t know her mother’s test results.
“I don’t think it’s fair, professional … that family members, and my mom, and the residents there have to wait until 3 o’clock to get the outcome,” she said.
In a provincial update on Wednesday, chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell said nearly all staff members were tested within four hours and test results were returned quickly.
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Notre-Dame has 112 residents and 56 employees.
Senior advocate Cecile Cassista says special-care home facilities need to be smaller and publicly operated.
Cassista, who works with the N.B. Coalition for Seniors Nursing Home Residents’ Rights, said there can be a “tendency for profits,” with bigger facilities.
“When I look at homes, two or three storeys, that’s very scary. When I look at the ones here in Moncton, they’re huge… And you know we just need one person with the pandemic and it would spread quickly,” Cassista said.
New Brunswick’s Liberal Party leader Roger Melanson says his aunt is a resident at the Notre-Dame facility.
“It really hits home… You know that this pandemic is still around,” Melanson told Global News.
He says he will be raising the idea of mandatory mask-wearing at Thursday’s cabinet committee because he believes there needs to be more consistency.
“It’s not because we want to force anything on anybody… This is a public health pandemic.”
Premier Blaine Higgs said in the update the decision on province-wide mask requirements will be made on Thursday, with this Moncton outbreak weighing on that call.
Higgs said an outbreak management team is working to prevent the further spread of the virus in the region and is identifying potential exposures.
To date, it’s been reported that potential exposures may have occurred at the Moncton Costco Optical Centre and the Moncton St. Hubert Restaurant on Oct. 1.
Johnson says she is already trying to figure out her next steps to help her mother.
“I need to get my mother out… Because there’s no way they’re going to be able to handle that,” she said.
— With files from Callum Smith.
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