By Haldimand Press Staff
DUNNVILLE—The Grandview Lodge COVID-19 outbreak has expanded, with 12 residents in their Bridgeview unit testing positive as of August 9, 2022. One of these residents has since passed away.
At that time, 11 residents were in room isolation. All other residents who tested negative on rapid antigen tests were no longer on room isolation. Additionally, one resident in the Hillview unit had developed symptoms; this resident and her roommate were on room isolation while awaiting the results of the PCR test, which was not available as of press time.
Grandview first provided an update on August 2, at which time nine residents had tested positive.
“Right now we believe there are two clusters of positive cases, each with the initial vector being an outside visitor, however we are unable to rule out the possibility of resident and staff transmission,” said Grandview Administrator Jennifer Jacob in a letter to residents and families at that time. “After considering all factors, it has been decided the best course of action at this time is to isolate all residents on the Bridgeview home area.”
At that time, approximately 10 close contacts required room isolation as well as one staff member.
“Every newly identified positive or symptomatic resident puts our outbreak back to a day one status,” continued Jacob. “At this time we believe a more relaxed approach to managing an outbreak with a higher percentage of positive cases will result in a prolongation of the outbreak and associated restrictions.”
As of August 2, implemented interventions included room isolation, meals being room service only; allowing more than one resident at a time outside only as long as the resident is capable of understanding social distancing protocol and is compliant with the protocol; limiting to Essential Caregivers only for all residents in Bridgeview and limiting it to only one Essential Caregiver visitor at a time. The limitation to Essential Caregivers for Bridgeview remained as of August 9.
“I fully understand the additional stress this places on everyone involved and we are hopeful that by taking this approach at this time, we will be able to get out of this outbreak within the next couple of weeks,” concluded Jacob. “As the prevalence in the community continues to rise, we ask all staff, residents, and visitors to remain diligent in their adherence to infection prevention and control measures, wash their hands frequently, and self-screen for symptoms prior to visiting. The mildest of symptoms may develop into a COVID positive case, so please exercise caution and avoid visiting the home until symptom free or after a 10 day isolation period.”
