Nine Lambton long term care homes in outbreak

There are now 18 residents of Village on the St. Clair retirement home who have tested positive for COVID-19.

It’s the largest outbreak in long term care in Lambton in the second wave. Nine homes are dealing with COVID-19 in their facilities.

An outbreak was first declared in the retirement home in downtown Sarnia Dec. 30. Today, Lambton Public Health is reporting 18 residents and five staff members are ill.

Village on the St. Clair is owned by Steeves and Rosema, the same company which owns Twin Lakes Terrace, which also is in outbreak. Twelve residents in the long term care side of the Terrace are ill, and three staff members – including one in the retirement home – are also COVID-19 positive.

Twin Lakes is has an 84-bed long term care facility, including 24 shared rooms, and 47 suites on the retirement side.

“Residents are being cohorted, meaning that residents in shared rooms are either alone, or are paired with a roommate with the same COVID status,” says John Scotland, the chief executive officer of Steves and Rosema in an email to The Independent. “All residents are currently isolating in their rooms.”

Scotland says both Bluewater Health and Lambton Public Health have been working with them at Twin Lakes Terrace including helping with weekly testing of all staff and residents, infection control, deploying additional cleaning staff.

At least one of the residents went to hospital with COVID but Scotland said late Monday they may return to the long term care home.

Seven other homes, Meadowview Villa and Fiddick’s, both in Petrolia, North Lambton Lodge in Forest and Fairwinds Lodge, Landmark Village, Sumac Lodge, and Trillium Villa, all in Sarnia, are also in outbreak.

Across the province, more than one third of long term care homes are now in outbreak. Fifteen more long term care residents died yesterday. Since September 1,147 residents have died of COVID-19.

The province is reporting 2,903 new cases of the virus with 41 deaths.

In Lambton, another 85 cases were added to the COVID-19 case count. There are 248 people actively ill with the virus up 24. There have also been 61 more recoveries.

There are four workplace outbreaks in Lambton with 18 people ill. At Confederation Central School, public health says there have now been five cases of COVID-19. Great Lakes Secondary School is also still considered to be in outbreak with two cases reported.