Mask needs are making a comeback for long-term care in Ontario amid emerging COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in the sector.
The new regulations went into effect on Nov. 7 and will affect workers, volunteers and aid workers, who will now be required to wear masks indoors in all residential areas.
The directive states that caregivers and visitors are “strongly recommended” to wear a mask indoors, when in a resident’s room, or when eating or drinking.
An Ontario Public Health report released the day the new masking regulations went into effect says there have been 7,157 cases of COVID-19 among citizens so far in 2023.
There have been 181 resident hospitalizations and 106 deaths.
In nursing homes, there have been 3,884 cases of COVID-19, 172 hospitalizations and 21 deaths.
The report shows a significant increase in the number of respiratory virus outbreaks in the months of September and October in long-term care facilities.
This chart shows the number of respiratory virus outbreaks in long-term care homes (Public Health Ontario).
Ontario also has a peak positivity rate for COVID-19 of about 17 per cent, which is particularly higher than the positivity rate for influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Through the first full week of September, Public Health Ontario data indicates Ontario has recorded approximately 12 cases per 100,000 residents.
By the last week of October, that figure had risen to 20. 5.
Knowledge of wastewater surveillance also appears to show a slow build-up of the virus from 9 November.
Provincial mask mandates, implemented at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to slow the spread of the disease, were lifted in long-term care facilities in October 2022. At the time, masks were for caretakers and visitors, but were not mandatory. . .
However, in the fall, some Ontario hospitals reinstated mask mandates in patient care areas.
A new COVID-19 vaccine, targeting the XXB variant, has been available to anyone over the age of six months since Oct. 30.
Dr. Fahad Razak, an internist at St. Michael’s Hospital, told CP24 at the time that the vaccines were “incredibly safe. “
“The purpose here is (hospital) formula coverage. Remember, this is the formula that treats not only COVID-19 and the flu, but also the formula that has to treat you if you have a central attack, a car. “accident or if you want to be treated for cancer,” he said.
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