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''The Threat Is Even Greater''
Only two months ago, family members and friends could easily stroll into long-term care homes across Ontario to visit their loved ones.
Now it seems that the only people arriving are nurses, doctors and to the removal of The latest victims of the COVID 19 virus.
The number of Canadians who have died because of the COVID-19 pandemic is now over 1,200. Prime minister Justin Trudeau says that The rise in deaths is due to unexpected outbreaks of the disease in long-term care facilities.
“Everyone is following the proper procedure but we continue to have residence contract the virus. We have had one case so far but around the community, the number has risen.Testing equipment is highly needed considering the virus is more threatening to the elderly”
Lauren Harvey is an RPN nurse at a long care home in Brampton Ontario.
Premier Doug Ford has set in place systematic changes to Ontario's long term care home that will increase testing and infection control inside the facilities in order to give the proper help that is needed.
In the meantime, Ontario has issued an emergency order preventing long-term care staff from working at multiple homes. The province has acknowledged that some outbreaks in those facilities were the result of staff who work in two or three homes inadvertently bringing in the virus. In addition, they will test asymptomatic residents and staff in select homes, support long-term care homes with more public health and infection control expertise, provide additional training for staff working amid an outbreak, and redeploy staff from hospitals and home and community care
due to the restriction of workers in these facilities
Dr. Jeff Wong, A professor at the University of Toronto says:
“Even with the proper steps being taken, it will be hard to flatten the death toll in long term care homes. The immune systems of these patients are far too weak to withstand this disease and there is only so much they can do to prevent themselves.”
Public health has released the federal government COVID-19 modeling on April ninth that states that even while maintaining physical distancing the death toll can rise to 11,000 - 22,00 over the course of the pandemic. Many of the deaths streaming from long care homes in Ontario.
Harvey says the numbers put more of a fear in the community.
“This was not anticipated. Now with restrictions on the staff, it makes the job a little more difficult but it's sad to see especially because Most of the residence have faced life-threatening health problems like lung disease or pneumonia before so the threat to the residence is even greater."
Until Change is made, Harvey says that she will continue to follow the proper steps in order to protect the lives of the residence she works at.
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