Update, May 19, 2020: COVID-19 outbreak at Chartwell Muskoka Traditions declared over
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) reported in its COVID-19 statistics today that there has been a case at a retirement home in Huntsville.
The woman in her 90s is a resident at Chartwell Muskoka Traditions, according to the health unit.
In a statement emailed to Doppler, Chartwell vice president of marketing and communications, Sharon Ranalli, said,”…we are vigilant in our efforts to manage an outbreak and thank our staff, residents and family members for their compliance and support of our efforts. We are following infection control protocols, enhanced resident monitoring including temperature and symptom checks, active screening of staff, isolation strategies in the building which includes meal delivery to suites, common areas closed, residents remain in their rooms. Also the use of PPE.”
Ranalli added that Chartwell remains in contact with families of residents to keep them updated, and will continue to follow the recommendations of the chief medical officer of health and the public health unit.
When cases of COVID-19 arise in facilities like long-term care homes and retirement residences, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit quickly begins testing of all residents and staff following its outbreak protocol.
The province recently issued a directive to health units across the province to test all residents and staff at long-term care facilities in their jurisdictions. Within the SMDHU catchment area that will amount to 7,800 tests.
We will post further details about this story as they become available.
Update, 4:45 p.m. on May 5: This post has been updated to include a statement from Chartwell as well as a note about Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s outbreak protocol.
To see all of our COVID-19 coverage, click here.
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Hi Eileen,
At its last media briefing (Tuesday), the health unit did not have a full picture of test results although at that point there had been no additional cases confirmed at Chartwell. We hope to receive an update on Friday. They won’t comment in detail on individual cases so all that we can say is that, based on the information we have now, the woman remains in hospital. The origin may never be fully known other than it would have been brought into the facility by someone who was likely asymptomatic at the time. Although the health unit conducts contact tracing, they may not be able to determine the exact source particularly if the testing of staff, other residents, and any other contacts (which was completed last week and only captures a moment in time) yields negative results. We will provide a full update once all test results have been reported.
Could you update the community on the Chartwell resident with Civid 19 and how they are doing in hospital and the investigation update on where it originated from
Hi Charlene. At its last media briefing on Friday, the health unit said that it was still awaiting test results. There is no briefing today but we hope to have more information tomorrow. As of this morning’s case list, there were no new cases listed for Huntsville.
Has there been an update on the retirement home yet
Hi Mike. Testing took place yesterday. We have not received information about results yet.
Isthereany update on chartwelll retirement home