Three Petrolia nursing/retirement homes in outbreak now

2022 has been the deadliest year of the pandemic in Lambton County.

Statistics from Lambton Public Health show there have been 166 deaths in Lambton since the pandemic began; 26 in 2020, 58 in 2021 and 82 in 2022.

Across Canada, over 49,200 people have died from the virus since the pandemic began; 15,741 were in Ontario.

The number of people in Lambton who have tested positive for the virus since 2020 was 14,374 at year’s end. 8,417 of those cases were in 2022. And that record breaking number was after the provincial government stopped reporting all cases of the virus and only publicly reported cases in institutions such as hospitals, group homes, long term care and retirement homes.

Right now in Lambton, there are COVID-19 outbreaks in all three of Petrolia’s long term care and retirement homes according to Lambton Public Health. At Albany Retirement Village, eight residents have tested positive according to data released Wednesday. Twenty people at Fiddick’s Retirement Home are COVID-19 positive and 10 people at Lambton Meadowview have tested positive for the virus. The county long term care home first reported an outbreak Dec. 17.

Lambton Public Health reports staff members at all three homes have also tested positive, however officials don’t report the actual number of staff ill until more than five have tested positive.