Staff and residents at a care home battling COVID-19 have been given some good news by Fraser Health: the month-long outbreak is now over.
Families of loved ones at Dufferin Care Centre are being informed that a COVID-19 outbreak is over after tests from the Coquitlam complex came back negative.
The care home is now in a 14-day “step-down” process to ensure a smooth transition to pre-outbreak protocols, with staff and residents monitored for symptoms.
According to BC Centre for Disease Control’s most recent outbreak report, 16 people were infected — including 13 residents and three staff — and two people died.
The outbreak, which began April 9, is the second for the care home since the pandemic began a year ago; however, fewer people were infected and there were fewer deaths compared to the first outbreak last spring: In May 2020, 14 residents and eight staff were infected and four people died.
Fraser Health declared the most recent outbreak over in a press release on May 8. “With the implementation of comprehensive strategies to prevent and respond to COVID-19 in care facilities, there are no longer any COVID-19 cases at this location,” the health authority stated.
The site had been targeted for vaccines earlier this winter and eligible residents had received their first and second shots,. Fraser Health stated there is also a procession place to ensure new residents get according to Fraser Health.
“We take every opportunity to immunize residents prior to their admission to long-term care including providing immunizations to people who are awaiting placement,” a Fraser Health spokesperson stated in an email to the Tri-City News.
Still, it’s not known how COVID-19 entered the facility.
Fraser Health confirmed that new residents are tested for the virus but they do have to wait 16 weeks — or four months — before their second shot.
Fraser Health’s CEO confirmed recently that the current vaccine protocol is “highly effective” in curbing transmissions in long-term care and assisted living facilities, particularly in reducing hospitalizations and deaths.
But Dr. Victoria Lee also acknowledged the immunization rate in such facilities “isn’t 100%” and that those who were vaccinated but still got COVID-19 may have acquired the virus within the 14- to 21-day period before their shots took effect.
