Tuesday’s COVID-19 outbreak declared at a “congregate living facility” in Peterborough is at the Brock Mission men’s emergency shelter, health officials revealed on Wednesday.
According to Peterborough Public Health, a positive case of COVID-19 has been reported at the shelter temporarily located at the annex of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church. However, the health unit says the individual was already self-isolating and away from the setting when the positive test result was received.
A thorough cleaning of the facility by staff and surveillance testing at the shelter conducted by Peterborough Paramedics are underway, the health unit reports.
“We are grateful for the efforts of the shelter staff who have been following public health protocols for the last year, screening individuals and monitoring for symptoms to direct people to isolation for testing,” stated Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, medical officer of health.
“Their dedication to the safety of people who use the emergency shelters was key in this situation. The advance planning efforts of shelter system staff and management, our team at PPH and Social Services staff established protocols early in the pandemic to protect this vulnerable population from COVID-19.”
The health unit says it’s the first positive case identified in the city’s emergency shelter system to date. It is not known if this case was the result of a variant of concern as the positive sample indicated “low level detected,” which means it cannot be screened for a variant strain.
The health unit notes while measures have been in place in the city’s shelter system, additional transmission in shelters is possible as they are congregate living settings and outbreaks in shelters have occurred across Ontario.
According to Ministry of Health guidelines, only one case in a congregate living setting constitutes an outbreak. Peterborough Public Health is actively supporting the shelter to ensure measures are in place to keep residents and staff safe, including isolating and testing any high-risk contacts of the case.
Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien stated officials are working together to help protect the most vulnerable in the community.
“Shelter staff and public health quickly responded to this situation to assist this individual and to take the necessary follow up steps to keep residents and staff safe,” she said. “With the addition of the new 24-hours-a-day shelter space on Wolfe Street, the protective measures in place, and the isolation shelter program, our shelter system is in a good position to respond to this situation and to keep providing this essential service for people in our community.”
Construction continues on a new Brock Mission shelter on Murray Street and it is expected to open by April, executive director Bill McNabb said.
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