Sudbury geriatrician takes stock of eye-opening COVID-19 outbreak at Amberwood Suites

As the COVID-19 vaccine is being distributed at long term-care facilities in the north, medical experts are now taking stock of the tragic outbreak at Amberwood Suites in Sudbury.

Dr. Jo-Anne Clarke is the clinical lead at the North East Specialized Geriatric Centre in Sudbury.

Prior to the pandemic, she saidshe oftentouted the benefits of congregate livingand retirement residences to her patients.

Now, Clarke said the risk of COVID-19 to older adults has meant many of these assisted or congregate living facilities have stopped visits and social programming, which has led to different challenges in caring for seniors.

'Frightening for patients and families'

Recently, she and her team worked with community paramedics during the COVID-19 outbreak at Amberwood Suites retirement residence, where five residents have died as a result.

Clarke said working with paramedics during the outbreak was eye-opening.

"When I look at the epidemiology of the virus, we're aware that the first five days can be relatively asymptomatic or mild symptoms and the more severe symptoms start to develop between day five and day seven," Clarke said.

"It was difficult for families, it was frightening for patients and families. It's even more difficult as folks are isolated in their rooms while having to go through this."

Clarke called the virus a "monster" that kills some, while barely affecting others.

"It's quite remarkable to observe a cohort of people, some of whom didn't even confer a single symptom and others who became quite ill and died within 48 hours," she said.

"Watching it happen, just having no idea who that would happen to and why it happened to one individual and not another, you know, I think we still have so much to learn."

Clarke said the nature of COVID-19 has made caring for older adults difficult. Typically, she said patients are put through physiotherapy and rehab to ensure they don't lose function during the course of an infection.

They've weakened, they've deconditionedand we weren't able to put the same intensity of supports in early on. Dr. Jo-Anne Clarke, geriatrician

"It's very difficult to do that with COVID-19, because we're trying so hard to protect everyone from getting the infection themselves. You know, we're not getting in there with the same rehab intensity that we would want to," she said.

"What we're seeing for all older adultsis they're coming out very deconditioned,and now their hospital stay or how long it's going to take for them to get back home, is going to be much, much longer because they've weakened, they've deconditionedand we weren't able to put the same intensity of supports in early on."

As a result, she said there are now long-term consequences that physicians, families and residents have to deal with including declining mental health and brain fog that behave almost like post-COVID-19 syndromes.

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