Online list of Quebec seniors' homes infection rate shows a troubling picture of the pandemic

Infection rates in care homes now online Quebecers can now get a clearer picture of how bad the situation is at long-term care facilities with information available online.

MONTREAL — Quebecers can now learn just how bad the COVID-19 situation is at long-term care facilities in the province after the government published infections rates online.

More than 150 long-term care facilities in the province have residents living at the homes infected with COVID-19. The online chart (embedded below) shows the number of cases and percentage of people infected at each facility.

The virus takes advantage of several vulnerabilities at these homes including a high patient-to-staff ratio and people being in close contact.

“This gets in and before you know it, you see one case, but in fact that’s just the harbinger,” said Dr. Matthew Oughton, an infectious disease specialist. “Once you see one case, very often it looks as if that’s really indicating that there’s multiple cases both in other residents of the facility and quite possibly in the health-care workers who work at that facility.”

Premier Francois Legault is calling for all hands on deck to help out long-term care facilities, while some want the army to step in.

“I said that if we can get some help from the Canadian Army with people that have the training to do this work, I will accept this help, but right now, until a few minutes ago, I didn’t have this help,” said Legault. “They are maybe talking about a thousand, we need two thousand, so I’m asking doctors to come and help work as nurses in our CHSLDs in the meantime.”

“The question is what resources can we access that could be helpful and could provide some relief when people need a break,” said Jacques-Cartier MNA Greg Kelley, who wrote a letter to Health Minister Danielle McCann asking for military help.

Ginette Gagnon’s father is at CHSLD Sainte Dorothee where there are more than 100 cases.

Her father is among them.

“I think we need a stronger statement and I’m wondering if the army might be the right solution,” she said. “You’re talking about young people, they’re trained, dynamic and usually they know how to take care of people and they became soldiers to help society.”

She adds that sometimes there are staffing shortages at the facility, and wonders about the care her father receives.

“You see that he wears a hospital gown, that he’s not shaved and that is not necessarily a problem, but what does it tell us in terms of brushing his teeth, and making sure he’s clean,” said Gagnon.