Two Greater Sudbury long-term care homes have been declared COVID-19 outbreak zones by Public Health Sudbury & Districts.
Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, the Medical Officer of Health says Extendicare Falconbridge and Extendicare York had outbreaks declared yesterday following reports of two cases of the virus among staff members, one in each facility.
She stresses no residents have tested positive in relation to the outbreaks.
Dr. Sutcliffe confirms there are five new cases of COVID-19 with 14 active cases throughout the unit’s jurisdiction.
She adds Public Health continues to actively work with both long-term care homes investigating the outbreaks and protecting residents and staff.
Algoma Public Health says two new cases, #59 and #60, have been reported.
The unit states both cases are due to international travel and are in self-isolation.
Rapid tests for most vulnerable
The province has begun deploying rapid COVID-19 test kits to long-term care homes, and remote and rural locations in Ontario.
The 2.8-million kits, scheduled to be sent out over the next two months, show results in minutes, as opposed to a day or longer.
Premier Doug Ford is calling the tests a “game changer” in efforts to head off new outbreaks of the coronavirus.
Vaccinations will be delayed in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning that COVID-19 vaccinations will arrive later in Canada than in other countries.
Trudeau says Canada has not had the domestic capacity to produce vaccines for many years.
That means the companies whose vaccines have proven effective will first be supplying their home countries.
But he adds Canada’s supplies are still expected to begin arriving early next year.
The UK, Germany, and the U-S could begin their inoculation programs as early as next month, supplied by companies in their countries that are producing the vaccines.
Fiscal COVID report expected today
Ontario’s Auditor-General is to release a report today on how the Ford government has been handling the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bonnie Lyskyk will be reviewing how the emergency management process has worked, the government’s planning for the outbreak, and how the decision-making process worked.
The report will also include an audit of how well the government has done with coronavirus testing, managing cases, and tracing contacts.
Caregiving by seniors
A survey from Statistics Canada shows almost one in four seniors across the country are caregivers.
One-third of those 1.5-million elderly caregivers are looking after a spouse or life partner.
The survey, compiled in 2018, shows more than 40 percent received support from their children for caregiving.
More than a quarter said that looking after another person has had an adverse effect on their own health and wellbeing.