Families of residents at Brampton nursing home concerned about rise of COVID-19 cases

45 cases of COVID-19 at Brampton long-term care A Brampton long-term care home is reporting a total of 63 active cases of COVID-19 among residents and staff members.

TORONTO — Families of residents at a Brampton long-term care home are expressing their concerns after the facility saw an increase of COVID-19 cases over the past few days.

Hawthorn Woods Care Community has 45 active cases among its residents, according to its operator Sienna Living. Four residents have recovered, while two have died.

Christopher, who did not want his last name used, said the increase of more than two dozen cases from Sunday was shocking.

"What concerned me was the jump in the numbers between Sunday and last night. And that that significantly impacted us. My wife couldn't sleep last night," he told CP24.

"I thought we need to get some help here."

Although his mother-in-law, who is residing at the home, has not tested positive, they are worried that the outbreak has gotten out of control.

The 160-bed facility located in the area of Goreway Drive and Humberwest Parkway has been dealing with an outbreak since Oct. 31.

While he commends the management and the staff for trying their best to deal with the situation, "I think it's a little bit gone beyond their capabilities in the home to handle this," Christopher said.

There are also 18 active cases among staff members.

In a statement to CP24, Sienna Living said they are working closely with public health and its in-house medical officer of health to control the outbreak.

It said that residents are being monitored for symptoms, which is followed by early interventions.

"Additionally, we have put in place several isolation precautions for residents. These measures include full contact and droplet precautions, in-room meal service, the co-horting of team members so they provide care to specific residents, deep cleaning with a specialized machine and IPAC (Infection Prevention and Control) audits to ensure all steps are being taken," the company said.

An Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) specialist, along with physician support, will now be at the facility seven days a week, the Ministry of Long-Term Care said in a statement on Wednesday.

When asked about allowing a hospital to provide enhanced support to the home, the ministry said the decision when to intervene is made on a case-by-case basis.

The ministry said it will consider appointing temporary management when a home is dealing with: COVID-19 cases among residents and staff, a high number of deaths, an outbreak that is difficult to resolve, significant staffing concerns and serious concerns flagged from IPAC assessments.

This is the second outbreak at the facility in the second wave of the pandemic. One staff member tested positive for COVID-19 during the outbreak between Sep. 14 and Sep. 25.

There are 20 active outbreaks at nursing homes in Peel Region. The biggest is at Tyndall Seniors Village Nursing Home in Mississauga, where 114 residents and 74 staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

Twenty-six residents have died at the home.

"To put things more starkly more than 50 per cent of our long term care homes are currently in outbreak," Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said during the city's weekly COVID-19 briefing.

"What's clear is that the virus is continuing to control us. We are not controlling the virus. All of us need to continue to play our part and listening to the advice of public health officials."