All residents, staff at 9 long-term care homes in Ottawa tested for COVID-19

All residents and staff at nine long-term care homes in Ottawa were tested for COVID-19 over the weekend as the province expands surveillance testing in facilities across Ontario.

There are currently 21 outbreaks at Ottawa long-term care and retirement homes

CBC News Posted: Apr 26, 2020 11:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: April 27, 2020

A health-care worker re-enters the building at the Laurier Manor in Ottawa, a long-term care facility experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, on April 26. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)

All residents and staff at nine long-term care homes in Ottawa were tested for COVID-19 over the weekendas the province expands surveillance testing in facilities across Ontario.

In a statement to CBC News, Associate Medical Officer of HealthDr. BrentMoloughney saidOttawa Public Health (OPH) collaborated with the Champlain Health Region Incident Command and paramedics from the Ottawa Paramedic Service and the regional community paramedic team to conducttesting at the following locations:

CarlingviewManor
Extendicare Laurier Manor
Extendicare Starwood
Extendicare West End Villa
Madonna Care Community
ManoirMarochel
Montfort LTCH
Sarsfield Colonial Home
Township ofOsgoodeCare Centre

Staff and residents who havepreviously testedpositivefor COVID-19 did not require testing, the statement said.

Any staff memberswho were not available while testing teams were on-site willreceive letters recommending they gettestedas soon as possible, it continued.

In a tweet, the Ottawa Paramedic Service said 24 paramedics deployed to long-term care homes on Saturday took554 swabsat two locations.

There are currently 21 active COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care and retirement homes in Ottawa. Three others have been declared resolved.

According to data released on Sunday, 269 residents and 126 staff at long-term care and retirements homes have tested positive for COVID-19 in the city over the course of the crisis. Another 38 residents have died of complications from the respiratory disease.

Ontario health officials announced last week they would expand testing in long-term care facilities, which have been especially hard-hit by COVID-19. The new strategy would include "active surveillance," in which all residents and staff are tested for the disease.

The province's previous policy was to test only the contacts of people confirmed to be carrying the virus or others showing symptoms.

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