THUNDER BAY - A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at a Thunder Bay long-term care home, after a staff member tested positive for the virus.
A frontline worker at Hogarth Riverview Manor, operated by St. Joseph's Care Group (SJCG), recently tested positive for COVID-19, the organization reported in a release issued on Saturday evening.
Tracy Buckler, president and CEO at SJCG, said the organization became aware of the positive test result earlier the same day, and reached out to inform affected families before the outbreak was announced.
The outbreak was declared specifically for the fourth floor of the care home, where the staff member works. Buckler said the employee did not experience any symptoms and had been on the job earlier this week. No residents or other staff have been identified as having symptoms.
All 64 residents who live on the fourth floor were tested for COVID-19 earlier this week, as part of a recent initiative to ramp up local testing at long-term care homes. All returned negative results. Residents on the floor are now in isolation in their own rooms.
That does not rule out the possibility that some residents could have contracted the virus since the testing took place, Buckler acknowledged. Residents will be monitored for symptoms, while all staff working on the fourth floor will don full personal protective equipment (PPE) when interacting with residents. Buckler said staff on the floor had access to "more than sufficient" supplies of the needed PPE.
It will be up to the health unit whether residents will be retested for the virus, Buckler said.
Buckler said staff on the fourth floor of the home do not work elsewhere in the building, and did not believe there was any increased risk to residents on other floors.
"I'm very confident the risk is low," she said.
Provincial guidelines require the declaration of a COVID-19 outbreak when one or more staff or resident tests positive. That prompts the formation of an outbreak management team, which will see SJCG work with the health unit to monitor and manage the situation.
SJCG had already implemented measures such as screening staff at the beginning and end of each shift, including temperature checks, assessing residents twice a day for symptoms, restricting visits, and requiring all staff and essential visitors to wear PPE.
