Doug Ford’s mother-in-law tests positive for COVID-19
Premier Doug Ford's mother-in-law has tested positive for COVID-19 at her nursing home, putting a personal spotlight on the dire situation in long-term care where deaths now account for 70 per cent of Ontario's fatalities from the dangerous virus.
Ford choked up Thursday when asked about the rapid spread of the illness as the federal government granted his request to send military medical teams into five of the hardest-hit nursing homes.
"I relate to it in our own family," Ford said of previous references to the 95-year-old mother of his wife, Karla, at the West Park Healthcare Centre.
"You see a loved one with their elderly parent and they put their hand up against the window, that's heartbreaking," he added, fighting tears.
"Anyway, the system, we can do better," Ford told reporters, regaining his composure.
Karla Ford and her sister have been singing to their ailing mother, who tested positive last week, from outside the window of her room to boost her spirits.
Friends of the premier confided to the Star that it has been a strain for the family - as it has for 77,000 residents of 626 nursing homes and their own families across the province.
Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton acknowledged many nursing homes are "struggling" with staff shortages as COVID-19 takes deeper hold.
"The system needs to be changed and we're changing the system but right now our main focus is to make sure that we protect the people inside these long-term-care homes," Ford said.
Another 69 nursing home residents have died in the last day, raising the grim toll to 516 according to figures released Thursday morning by the Ministry of Long-Term Care.
Meanwhile, highlighting a troublesome lag in reporting of statistics on the fast-moving coronavirus, the government database into which public health units report shows just 358 deaths in nursing homes as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, a difference of 158.
Ford said he was relieved that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to send teams from the Canadian Armed Forces to help.
Trudeau noted "this is not a long-term solution" and more steps will have to be taken across the country to improve care in nursing homes.
"We shouldn't have soldiers taking care of seniors," Trudeau said in Ottawa. "We are failing our parents, our grandparents, our elders."
The Ministry of Health is now reporting more information on the situation in long-term-care homes, including side-by-side comparisons of the two differing death numbers from the Ministry of Long-Term Care and the less up-to-date Integrated Public Health Information System, or iPHIS for short.
The 516 nursing home deaths are 70 per cent of the confirmed 713 deaths in the iPHIS database.
A more timely compilation by the Star as of 11 a.m. Thursday shows an increase of 55 deaths in the previous 24 hours to a total of 770, along with another 662 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, a five per cent rise to 13,825. The numbers were compiled using data from Ontario's 34 regional public health units.
To date, a total of 2,189 nursing home residents and 1,058 workers have tested positive for the new coronavirus. They account for two-thirds of the 1,626 health-care workers in general who have come down with COVID-19.
One personal support worker from a nursing home in Scarborough's West Hill area died last week.
The New Democrats are calling for a province-wide list on outbreaks in nursing homes, retirement homes, shelters, jails and other congregate care settings to be posted online for the public to see.
MPP Teresa Armstrong said the need for the measure is clear after 31 deaths were confirmed at the Orchard Villa nursing home in Pickering mere days after it had reported just four deaths.
"This is a scary time for families with loved ones in long-term care. They have a right to truthful information," said Armstrong (London-Fanshawe).
"Residents and their families have a right to make informed decisions. An accurate, up-to-date list is an effective way to give the public the information they need."
There are now outbreaks in at least 135 of the province's 626 nursing homes, up 10 in the last day.
The Ministry of Health is reporting 887 people were in hospital for COVID-19 with 233 in intensive care and 185 of them on ventilators.
Just under 6,700 Ontarians have recovered from the new coronavirus since the first confirmed case arrived from China in January.
Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie
Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1