TORONTO – Now it’s the Delta variant that’s scary. In communities as well as in nursing and long-term care homes. And it is precisely this strain – which is more than twice as transmissible as the first forms of the virus – that is responsible for an outbreak of Covid-19 that broke out at The Village of Tansley Woods in Burlington. Until today there were 16 active cases among the residents while among the staff there was only one infection. When the outbreak began, there were just three confirmed cases. Long term care general manager Jo-Anna Gurd told CBC Newsthat public health officials went to the facility on Upper Middle Road to conduct independent scrutiny of infection prevention and testing. “The Village has added more members to the team and is doing everything it can to prevent further infections and support everyone,” Ms Gurd said.

In response to the outbreak of the highly contagious variant, on Wednesday July 7 the nursing home will host a mobile clinic for vaccinations. In the past it has already organized clinics to vaccinate staff and residents. “Currently, 86 percent of team members received the first dose ,” Gurd said, “we expect the number of fully vaccinated staff to increase after this Wednesday’s clinic and after our intensive education and promotion efforts.”

The Village of Tansley Woods did not say how many of the infected residents are vaccinated against Covid-19 or whether hospital treatment was necessary.

Through May 30, the Ontario government estimated that 97% of residents of long-term care homes in the province were fully immunized.

At the end of May, the Ontario government instructed all long-stay nursing homes in the province to put in place guidelines for vaccination of personnel.

In essence, according to the guidelines of each facility each staff member will be required to show proof of vaccination for each dose, show medical documentation explaining why you have not been vaccinated or will be required to participate in an educational seminar that illustrates the benefits of being immunized and the risks that are taken if you do not receive the vaccine.

Vaccines, which since they were administered, have caused the numbers of infections and deaths inside LTC to fall dramatically: these have been the scene of a massacre of elderly people. At the moment there are only three long term care in the province of Ontario where infections are reported, the active infections are a total of 21 among residents and 5 among the staff. Fortunately, the number of Covid deaths that have occurred since March 2020 in these facilities has remained at 3,782.

And it is precisely nursing homes – with all the problems that have emerged, some attributable to the pandemic, others chronic – that have become part of the NDP platform in the run-up to next year’s elections. Party leader Andrea Horwath will hold a conference in Ottawa tomorrow to call on the government to urgently legislate a minimum standard for long-term care of four hours a day for each resident. Horwath will be joined by Nancy Garrard, president of the Council on Aging of Ottawa, who says this change can no longer be postponed.

In the pic, The Village of Tansley Wood in Burlington (liveway.ca)