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Helen Lee never thought she’d see a repeat of what she experienced during the first wave of COVID-19.
Her 111-year-old grandmother Foon Hay Lum who became an activist in her 70s was among the 41% of residents who succumbed to a raging outbreak in Toronto’s Mon Sheong Home in April.
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She told me some families lost mom and dad all within one week. And she thought it couldn’t possibly happen again.
It was welcome news to see vaccination efforts against the COVID-19 virus begin in Ontario in December, and that the first recipient was a personal support worker from a long-term care home, Anita Quidangen. However, a successful vaccination campaign will not end the crisis in long-term care.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in catastrophic levels of illness and death: 81 per cent of the total COVID-19 deaths that occurred in Canada during the first wave were in long-term care homes, which is almost twice as high as other countries within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Long-term care homes have also been hit with devastating outbreaks during the second wave of the pandemic.
Cassandra Szklarski
Paramedics take away an elderly patient at the Tendercare Living Centre, long-term-care facility during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scarborough, Ont., on Wednesday, December 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette January 22, 2021 - 2:51 PM
TORONTO - Canadian scientists say blood thinners appear to prevent some COVID-19 patients with moderate illness from deteriorating further, offering a massive advance in treatment they expect will ease suffering and lesson strain on hospital ICUs.
University Health Network scientist Ewan Goligher said Friday that blood thinners could soon be part of standard care after the interim results of global trials showed Heparin reduced the probability of requiring life support by about a third.
Published Wednesday, January 13, 2021 2:49PM EST TORONTO - A proposed class action against a prominent nursing-home company now covers all its facilities, including those hit hardest by COVID-19, and seeks more than $200 million in damages, according to a fresh statement of claim. The unproven claim alleges Extendicare failed to respond properly to the pandemic and was negligent in the care of residents. “The plaintiffs plead that the defendants behaved in a reprehensible and unconscionable manner by failing to implement an adequate COVID-19 response plan,” the suit alleges. “The defendants had a history of failing to implement properly, or at all, an adequate infection-control program.”
Long-term care homes in Ontario need "immediate emergency intervention with whatever resources are available" to prevent more deaths from COVID-19, advocates said on Tuesday.