As long as COVID-19 cases continue to grow in St. Albert, keeping senior residents isolated within locked-down, sanitized environments won't be enough to protect them, according to a senior home manager.
Four senior residences in St. Albert have current outbreaks of COVID-19. Almost 100 people who either live or work at a local senior care home are currently diagnosed with the virus. Five people in St. Albert have died within the last week, with three of those deaths attributed to senior home outbreaks.
The Citadel Care Centre had been successful for weeks in keeping positive COVID-19 cases among staff members from spreading to residents, said Dana Schnepf, director of care and site manager. But on the morning of Dec. 12, four residents had tested positive. Two more residents tested positive on Friday. Now, more than 85 people are in isolation.
As much as facility staff try to limit their exposure, COVID-19 cases have tripled within a month's time in St. Albert. Eliminating the risk entirely could be impossible if community spread continues to grow.
"We have COVID-19 cases at Citadel Care Centre because there are so many cases in the community. Our staff acquire the virus while grocery shopping, filling up with gas or from their school aged children. Then they unintentionally bring the virus to work," Schnepf wrote in an email to the Gazette.
"Please follow the public health rules, even at Christmas this year. Please do it for our seniors, their families and the staff working in this environment."
The longer seniors have to stay alone in their suites, the more their mental and physical health suffers. According to Statistics Canada, social isolation is associated with increased risk of death, on par with or greater than alcohol use, smoking and obesity. Seniors reported experiencing anxiety, depression, poor sleep quality and physical inactivity during isolation periods, according to a peer-reviewed study.
The Chartwell St. Albert Retirement Residence outbreak had grown to 67 active positive cases as of Dec. 17. Fifty-four residents and 13 staff members have tested positive. Three people have died since the outbreak was declared on Dec. 8.
Most of the positive cases were discovered through asymptomatic testing, according to the facility, and grew from a few cases to more than 60 within a week. Residents and staff will now be tested every five days.
"Overcoming the COVID-19 outbreak at Chartwell St. Albert remains our highest priority and we will continue doing everything possible to protect and support our residents while working collaboratively with our health care and government partners," wrote Ola McIntosh, St. Albert Chartwell general manager, in an email to families shared with the Gazette. "Thank you once again for your patience, support and kind words for our staff during this challenging time."
According to Alberta Health, the St. Albert Chartwell outbreak was accidentally taken down on Dec. 15 from the province's list of current outbreaks but should be reposted to the website on Friday.
The Covenant Health Youville Home has 17 active cases of COVID-19 as of Dec. 18. Ten residents and seven staff members have tested positive. One resident with a community-acquired COVID-19 case has died, but the death is not associated with this outbreak, according to Karen Diaper, communications manager for Covenant Health.
"We are so thankful for our dedicated staff at Youville Home, who are committed to providing quality, compassionate care to our residents, especially during this challenging time," wrote Cecilia Marion, senior director of operations, in an email. "We are overwhelmed by the support and understanding of our residents’ families and loved ones, as well as the many uplifting messages from our community here in St. Albert."
The St. Albert Retirement Residence outbreak reported earlier this year now has one active case, according to Alberta Health. In total, 68 people tested positive for COVID-19 over the course of that outbreak. Four people died, according to the facility, though only one of those deaths is recorded in the province's online data.
There were 356 active cases in St. Albert as of Dec. 17. Since the pandemic began, there had been 1,306 cases officially diagnosed in St. Albert with 941 people having recovered. Nine people have died.
