To date, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of nine residents and infected 63 residents and 53 staff members at Roberta Place, the long-term care home in Barrie, Ontario, Stephanie Barber, community relations coordinator at Jarlette Health Services, which owns Roberta Place, told The Epoch Times in an email on Monday.
Barber said that they could not confirm if the UK strain had anything to do with the outbreak at this time, but “as information becomes available, we will be sure to share accordingly.”
Barber also confirmed that Roberta Place has entered a voluntary management agreement with Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) for the hospital to temporary manage the home to bring the outbreak under control.
“The residents and staff at Roberta Place have been hit very hard with this current COVID-19 outbreak and our thoughts are with them during this extremely difficult time,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, SMDHU’s medical officer of health, in an emailed statement. “In consultation with the facility, we have determined that the support of OSMH is essential.”
“This outbreak unfortunately has spread very rapidly and affected a large number of the residents and staff,” he added.
On Sunday, the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) issued an urgent plea calling on the Canadian Armed Forces and Red Cross to be deployed to help with the situation at Roberta Place.
“Physicians are calling for help at Roberta Place, and we hear the urgency,” she added. “If I were premier today, I would be putting extra hands and hearts in these homes by calling in both the Canadian Armed Forces, and the Red Cross.”
The above mentioned partners are also holding daily meetings with the home to ensure it has the support it needs to combat the outbreak, Caputo said in an email statement.
“We remain committed to doing everything we can, along with our partners, to help stabilize the home and have it return to normal operations,” she added.
Barber said as the home works in collaboration with OSMH, their focus will remain the same as “our top priority has and continues to be the comfort, safety and well-being of our Residents and Team members.”