Three deaths and 20 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases have been linked to Worthington Pavilion and an attached rehabilitation unit, according to figures provided to The News by the Ministry of Health.
Fraser Health announced a new case at its Worthington long-term care facility last week. Since the first case was detected on April 30, six more cases have been confirmed. Meanwhile, the MSA rehabilitation unit that also includes Worthington Pavilion, and which is attached to the long-term care facility, has seen 16 cases and three deaths since the start of April, when the first case was announced. There are six active cases, according to officials.
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Dr. Martin Lavoie, Fraser Health’s chief medical health officer, said Thursday that measures are in place to contain the outbreaks. He said the challenge is catching cases of COVID-19 early, before those with the very-contagious virus can spread it.
“If someone is symptomatic, we implement immediate precautions around that potential case to make sure it doesn’t spread any further,” he said. “It’s just a matter of how it came in and who was in contact with whom.”
When The News asked last week whether the first case announced at Worthington was resolved, Lavoie said it had. There was no mention that the virus had infected more than a dozen additional people, and killed three, since that time.
After learning about one reported death, The News asked for more information on Tuesday both via email and in a brief news conference. On that day, Lavoie said there had been six cases – four staff and two residents – and no deaths. He was presumably relating information solely about those those at the long-term care facility.
Lavoie confirmed Thursday that he was previously only speaking about the long-term care unit. He said he couldn’t give breakdowns on the number of staff and patient cases at each unit.
Fraser Health has said there is no known link between the cases at the long-term care unit and the rehabilitation unit. Staff at the site are not permitted to work in both units in order to prevent transmission between the two sites.
The number of cases at the facility is significant, but not out of the ordinary in B.C. As of Thursday, May 7, 12 different care facilities reported at least a dozen confirmed COVID-19 cases.
In Abbotsford, Valhaven long-term care facility has seen four confirmed cases and one death. That outbreak is still active.
Eden Care Centre, a Chilliwack long-term care facility, has seen five confirmed cases, as has Cedarbrook Chateau in Mission. There have been no deaths reported at either of those facilities in numbers provided by the Ministry of Health.
An outbreak at MSA Manor was declared over earlier this week, after just one confirmed case. The patient in that case recovered.
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