On Jan. 14, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit listed Bradford Valley Care Community in a facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak with two staff members testing positive.
“We are working around the clock to protect residents and support team members at Bradford Valley Care Community as the entire province fights against COVID-19," said a spokesperson for Sienna Senior Living.
As a precaution, all residents and staff members have been tested for the virus and as of Jan. 16 there are no positive resident cases. All other team member results have come back negative following routine surveillance testing.
"Any team member who is positive isolates at home and similarly, we work closely with Public Health, following their direction to prevent further spread of the virus. We appreciate the dedication and commitment of our team members and wish both individuals a speedy recovery," read the statement from Sienna Senior Living.
The facility has implemented enhanced infection prevention and control (IPAC) protocols and isolation measures with residents by providing care, meals and activities in their rooms.
Sienna Senior Living says they maintain stringent IPAC protocols and follow the guidance of physician experts Dr. Andrea Moser, Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Allison McGeer, Chief Infection Prevention and Control Consultant, to ensure all steps are being taken to protect the health and safety of residents and team members.
To date, 95 percent of Bradford Valley Care residents and 50 percent of team members have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
"We continue to work with our partners in the community to ensure everyone connected with the residence receives the vaccine. Although we are getting close to reaching a critical turning point in the fight against this terrible virus, we won’t let our guard down. We will continue to implement stringent safety protocols to protect everyone connected to this long-term care community," read the statement from Sienna Senior Living.
This is the fourth outbreak at the 246-bed facility since the pandemic started in March 2020.
An outbreak is declared, as per provincial rules, when there is at least one case present in a staff or resident.
The first one was declared on March 23 and ended on May 19 and resulted in 42 lab-confirmed cases and 12 deaths. A second outbreak was declared on Oct. 7 after two staff members tested positive for the virus, and a third was declared on Dec. 13 with one staff member testing positive for COVID.
