Hamilton public health issued order to Chartwell Willowgrove

Hamilton is reporting one new COVID death at Chartwell Willowgrove in Ancaster, bringing the long-term care home's outbreak death toll to 14, as the medical officer of health reveals she issued an order against the home Tuesday.

This comes as the province announced lockdowns for Toronto and Peel and even tighter restrictions for those in the red zone.

In a news conference Friday, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson confirmed she issued an order Tuesday under Section 22 of the province's Health Protection and Promotion Act against Chartwell Willowgrove, a long-term care home in an active outbreak that has 69 cases - 43 in residents and 26 in staff. The purpose of the order was to reemphasize" the importance of having proper health and safety measures in place, Richardson said.

Their leadership has done a lot of education. St. Joe's Hospital, who's paired with this facility, has also been doing a lot of work there but unfortunately we're just not getting the absolute full compliance that we absolutely need," Richardson said. We know they're working very hard on it but it's just with COVID-19 you need ... t's crossed, i's dotted to get transmission stopped once it's begun."

Asked what prompted the order, Richardson said small things that may have happened for a day or two" such as a break" in putting on and taking off personal protective equipment (PPE) or screening breakdowns. Public health has been monitoring the home every day since the outbreak began, she said.

I want to emphasize these were not major concerns that were observed but they were happening from time to time," Richardson said.

The order suggests the situation was more slightly more dire.

It lists the following infection control breaches": inadequate screening of residents, staff or essential visitors; inadequate staff training on the use and reprocessing of PPE, which would prevent staff from safely providing appropriate care to ill residents"; inadequate hand hygiene education; inadequate compliance with physical distancing in staff areas; and an inadequate plan for enhanced cleaning.

In a statement, Sharon Ranalli, vice-president of marketing and communications with Chartwell Retirement Residences, said the home is working with public health on the additional directives."

I can confirm that what has been recommended aligns with our own action plans," Ranalli said. Those include enhanced active screening measures, heightened monitoring and surveillance of residents for COVID-19 symptoms twice daily and communication with physicians, families and public health, stable PPE supply and use of PPE training support as well as appropriate hand hygiene for staff."

Chartwell is currently the largest of the 11 ongoing outbreaks in seniors' homes in Hamilton. The most recent COVID death at the home is a woman in her early 90s who died on Thursday.

Ranalli noted that as of Friday, there are just seven active cases in residents and two active cases in staff. Her thoughts and prayers go out to the 14 families who lost a loved one, she said.

There have now been 73 COVID deaths in Hamilton. On Friday, the city reported 36 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 2,589, of which 331 are active. Eighty-four per cent of cases are resolved.

Meanwhile, Premier Doug Ford announced Toronto and Peel Region will enter a lockdown effective first thing Monday. This means indoor private gatherings with anyone outside a household are banned, people can only gather in groups of 10 outdoors, restaurants can remain open only for takeout and delivery, gyms and sports facilities must close and non-essential businesses must close, though curbside pickup is still possible. Religious services and weddings are restricted to 10 people indoors and 10 people outdoors. Manufacturing and agriculture businesses and most construction" businesses can continue to operate. Schools, daycares, grocery stores, pharmacies, doctors' and dentists' offices and other essential services remain open with capacity limits.

Ford also announced a shrinking of gathering limits for red zone regions, including Hamilton. Just five people can gather indoors and 10 outdoors. People are not meant to gather with those outside of their household, with the exception of those living alone who can join another household, and should only leave home for essential reasons.

Hamilton seems unlikely to enter a lockdown any time soon, with Richardson saying the city is currently only hovering" around the threshold for red.

Still, she urged Hamiltonians to take measures seriously.

We continue to be at a critical phase in this wave of the pandemic and our collective response is ultimately going to determine where we go to from here," Richardson said. We all have to remain diligent."

Rob MacIsaac, president and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences, also struck a serious tone.

The bottom line is there is no slack left in the system," he said at the news conference, noting the hospital system is seeing a rising demand for care but is still trying to catch up on procedures cancelled in the first wave. Children, in particular, are facing long delays, he said.

People avoiding going to hospital for fear of catching COVID means they're sicker when they finally arrive too, he said.

Sixteen people are in Hamilton hospitals with COVID-19 as of Friday.

Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com