With a startling number of cases and deaths in Winnipeg personal care homes as the COVID-19 pandemic continues unabated, all local care homes are moving to the red level on the pandemic response system — meaning any new people being admitted to a care home will have to isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
The executive director of the Manitoba Association of Senior Centres says the numbers — which include 89 cases and nine deaths at the Parkview Place home alone — are alarming.
“I don’t like the numbers… it bothers me. It tells me, ‘hey, community: we need to get our act together,” Connie Newman told 680 CJOB.
“I think about the staff at all of the care homes. I thank them all, because they are in very, very, very trying conditions.”
Despite the dire situation — which has prompted grievances from the union representing those staff members — Newman said it’s not all doom-and-gloom for families of people living in care homes.
“Yes, they’re under code red — they’re under what I would call a ‘pay attention, be alert’. Our restrictions are tight,” she said.
“We can still visit, as long as we follow all the rules. If you’re visiting a care home, make sure you know who’s in your bubble.
“For me, when I’ve been around people that I’m not always in the same bubble, I think twice before going into any of the personal care homes I’m involved with.”
In a release Friday, MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) and MLA Uzoma Asagwara (Union Station) put out a joint call to the federal government to get involved in providing resources to care homes, calling the recent deaths in long-term care homes across the country a “national tragedy.”
“Manitobans deserve a government who matches their commitment to stay safe and healthy,” said Asagwara.
“They need to listen to health-care workers and residents and work together to keep the virus from spreading and to make sure residents get the care they deserve.
“Personal care homes should be about patient care, not profit.”