Interior Health says COVID-19 outbreaks at extended care facilities in Castlegar and Trail have grown.
Castleview Care Centre in Castlegar has 35 resident and five staff cases with one death connected to the outbreak, which was declared Jan. 31.
Poplar Ridge Pavilion in Trail has 31 residents and six staff infected, with two deaths connected to the outbreak, which was declared Jan. 26.
Of the deaths, only one was previously reported, at Poplar Ridge.
Interior Health medical officer Dr. Karin Goodison said the numbers are based on PCR testing, generally using swabs. Although they also use rapid antigen testing, she said those results are not reported in the same way and not captured in case counts reported to the Ministry of Health.
Only those with symptoms are tested. Those who show signs of illness are isolated for a minimum of five days.
“With Omicron, we’re discovering many people have quite mild illness,” Goodison says. “They may just have cold symptoms. We still do have some people with more severe symptoms.”
Although visitors were restricted earlier in the outbreaks, essential and designated visitors are now being allowed into the facilities. Each resident can have one of each type of visitor.
Staff with symptoms are expected to leave work as soon as it safe to do so and get tested. If they test positive, they are to stay home and isolate for at least five days, although it may be longer if they are severely ill or have immune compromised conditions.
Although Omicron is tending to cause milder illness, Goodison says it is still more infectious than other forms of COVID.
“Our interventions are a little less effective than we’re used to,” she says. “”We’re isolating people, we’re limiting the amount of contact everyone has.”
Social activities have been reduced, but recognizing that the variant is causing more mild illness, she says they want residents to “do as much as is safe in the context of that outbreak.”
Visitors and staff are still wearing masks, using personal protective equipment, and keeping their distance. “All of those things are still effective but not as effective as for less contagious variants,” Goodison says.
She says although there continue to be additional cases, the pace of the spread appears to be slowing.
“We still want to protect the most vulnerable residents. For people not vaccinated, we offer protection for them by reducing their interaction with other people in the facility.”
Goodison didn’t have exact numbers on unvaccinated residents but believed it to be low in both facilities.
She thanked the staff who have been working throughout the outbreak.
“I know this is a lot of work for them because other staff are getting sick, and we have general staffing shortages because of COVID. There’s extra work to be done when residents are isolated, so it’s a lot for everyone and we really appreciate it.”