Unvaccinated visitors won’t be allowed in nursing homes, Ontario says
No vaccination, no visit.
Ontario's Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips is tightening the rules at nursing homes, with increased COVID-19 testing and some new restrictions that include a ban on residents leaving for overnight visits - which could impact holiday season plans for some.
The reality is there are some communities where vaccination levels are lower and with the uncertainty from the Omicron variant you just have to be careful," he said in an interview Tuesday.
As previously reported by the Star, only the fully vaccinated are permitted to visit loved ones, with exceptions for palliative care and those with legitimate medical exemptions. They will be restricted to the resident's room.
This means children and teens who have not had two doses can't go in to see grandma or grandpa, but outdoor visits remain an option for the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated provided they wear masks and physically distance. Infants under the age of one are exempt from the indoor restriction.
Visitors are limited to two indoors and four outdoors, where some nursing homes are providing heaters for the winter months.
Family and friends serving as designated caregivers to a resident must have their first dose of vaccine by Saturday and be fully vaccinated by Feb. 21. But until fully vaccinated, they are restricted to the resident's room.
Our priority is to protect long-term care residents from COVID-19," Phillips said. Faced with rising rates of infection and the emerging threat of Omicron we are immediately implementing further measures to protect our most vulnerable based on the best scientific and medical advice."
Work on the measures began last week with chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore and his team. Moore hinted at a news conference Friday that new restrictions were coming.
Surveillance testing for the virus is increasing, starting on Friday.
All staff, students on placements, volunteers and designated caregivers will be tested for COVID-19 twice a week, replacing the current regime of about 105,000 random tests weekly. Infants under the age of one are exempt.
The moves follow Monday's deadline for all long-term care staff to be fully vaccinated and amid concerns case levels could rise in nursing homes. The highly contagious Omicron variant is causing infections to double every three days across the province.
For now, with boosters already given to most nursing home residents, infection levels remain low with three new cases reported Tuesday, two in residents and one in a staff member in the entire 626-home system. Eleven homes have outbreaks, an increase of two, but three of those homes have no resident cases.
Long-term care was hit hard in the first and second waves of the pandemic, with almost 4,000 deaths, including 13 staff. The death toll prompted investigation by Ontario's ombudsman, patient ombudsman, auditor general and a commission of inquiry that found the system was not prepared for a fast-spreading virus that found a ready breeding ground in the close confines of nursing homes.
At the peak of the crisis in spring 2020, military medical teams were called in to help at a handful of homes where staffing levels fell as low as 20 per cent from absenteeism and illness, resulting in horrific conditions such as residents left hours or days in soiled diapers, malnourished, dehydrated and neglected.
Nursing homes are being encouraged to limit large group activities for the time being.
Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1