After 41 days, health officials have declared the COVID-19 outbreak over at Fairhaven long-term care in Peterborough, the home’s executive director announced Friday.
The outbreak was declared on Oct. 31 after a caregiver — not a direct employee — tested positive.
The virus spread in the Westview 2 section of the municipally run facility on Dutton Road. Three of 20 residents who tested positive for COVID-19 died in November. Five staff and caregivers also tested positive.
An isolation unit was set up at the Riverview 2 section of the home as residents recovered.
On Friday, Fairhaven executive director Lionel Towns said Peterborough Public Health has declared the outbreak over. The last two residents were declared COVID-19 free on Monday.
“While we have not had new cases in some time, a home needs to wait 14 days from the discovery of the last case, and also resolve any outstanding swabs from residents that were collected during the outbreak period,” he said.
Towns said the staff’s efforts to manage the spread of the coronavirus were an “incredible achievement.”
“Managing the spread of the virus, this well, would have been our best-case scenario when COVID-19 was discovered through surveillance testing,” he said.
“Westview 2 and Riverside 2 have been through a lot during the past several weeks and I have a great deal of gratitude for the skill and professionalism that they have displayed.
“While we still have several months to go before the immediate threat will be over, this is a positive milestone on the road to the end of the pandemic.”
Visitations are expected to resume on Dec. 16. Prior to that, plans are to rearrange setups to establish a designated COVID-19 isolation area in the Westview 2 home area, Towns said, since it had been set up to be a “secure unit.”
“We have notified families and residents will be moved into Riverside 2 after it has been vacant for several days, and cleaning meticulously,” he said.
“Each resident will be in the mirror room on the other side of the second floor. Given our experience with the last outbreak, we feel that this will be a much better home area to manage positive COVID cases from, and contain the virus.”
Towns says the home is asking family members to forego resident leaves until at least the holidays are over as the province requires a 14-day isolation period after a resident leave — of any kind — into the community.
“At this time of year, especially, gatherings with people from different personal bubbles is more likely and the risk of residents being inadvertently exposed to the virus is worrying,” he said.
“We will be transforming our Great Room with Christmas decorations, the playing of music, etc., to make this a more festive place to visit. We realize that the Great Room is not the same as your home but we desperately want to find a balance between allowing residents to have in-person contact with loved ones and keeping Fairhaven free of the coronavirus.”
Essential caregivers will be asked to provide a description of the care that they are providing for the home’s records, Towns noted. Only one will be allowed in the building at a time.