Thunder Bay – COVID-19 Update – The Thunder Bay District Health Unit has declared a COVID-19 Outbreak at the Southbridge Pinewood Long-term Care facility in Thunder Bay.
The Facility reports, “In line with our commitment to provide timely and transparent updates, we would like to share that we received confirmation from the public health unit that one member of our staff has tested positive for COVID-19. This was detected by our regular nasal swab surveillance testing. This staff member is currently at home isolating.
“All staff are required to participate in surveillance testing as directed by the local public health unit.
“With community spread being a major concern, this regular testing will help us detect new positive staff or asymptomatic staff early and limit the risk of potential exposure to our residents.”
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit states that,”One staff member was recently confirmed to have COVID-19. Consistent with provincial guidelines, the outbreak declaration for COVID-19 in a long-term care home is made when one staff or resident is found to be positive for COVID-19. This low threshold for declaring an outbreak ensures that outbreak management measures, including increased infection prevention and control practices, can be put in place swiftly to contain any further spread. At this time, there is no evidence that any spread of the virus has occurred at the facility”.
The outbreak at Southbridge Roseview LTC Facility has resulted in over 100 residents and staff testing positive over the past month. Twelve deaths from COVID-in the Thunder Bay District were residents at Southbridge Roseview. There the outbreak continues with eight new cases announced at Southbridge Roseview on Friday.