Lighthouse shelter and supported living facility boosts testing efforts amid COVID-19 outbreak

A supported living facility and homeless shelter in Saskatoon is ramping up testing efforts after a COVID-19 outbreak was declared by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

An outbreak was declared at the Lighthouse on Oct. 4. Since then, 12 residents have tested positive for COVID-19.

"We are monitoring, and surveillance has greatly increased because everybody's passing each other in hallways," said Lighthouse communications manager Anna Pacik.

"It can be really difficult to contain."

Since the start of the pandemic, the Lighthouse has brought in a number of regular COVID-19 protocols, including hand washing, masking and physical distancing.

As well, most people in the supported living wing of the facility have been eating meals in their rooms.

The Lighthouse has also started administering rapid tests on anyone who enters the building to try to identify infectious people.

Pacik said the recent outbreak has been stressful for people who live in the facility, especially considering many people have had traumatic life experiences.

"Everybody's working really hard at being patient with each other," she said.

"We're a community there and we become like family. So I think everybody's just really hunkering down for the long haul."

While anyone who tests positive in the supported living wing is self-isolating in their rooms, infectious people in the building's shelter are being sent to hotels, where they are monitored by Saskatchewan Health Authority staff.

While the Lighthouse has talked about mandatory proof-of-vaccination programs, they have not implemented one so far.

Pacik said about three staff membersat the facility have also tested positive, but could not give a firm number due to privacy concerns.

In Oct. 2020, another outbreak was declared where 27 people at the facility became sick.