A staff member at Extendicare Maple View is isolating at home after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.
Communications staff with Extendicare tells SooToday that a dietary aide had only completed one training shift at the facility by the time the long-term facilities company became aware of the positive test result.
“One staff member received a positive test result on June 10 and is isolating at home. The employee, who is a dietary aide, had completed one training shift, on June 9, at the time we received the result,” Extendicare said via email.
Three staff members who were in contact with the dietary aide are isolating at home until Extendicare Maple View can confirm they do not pose a threat of infection for residents.
In a June 10 letter from Extendicare Maple View, families and friends of residents there were notified that residents of the Rangers Lake and Goulais Bay Units “may have been exposed,” and are currently self-isolating in their rooms.
Extendicare Maple View advised families that all staff that have been in contact with the dietary aide have been advised to self-monitor and self-isolate.
“This particular team member was going through orientation and mostly observed routines, but also cleaned tables and removed dirty dishes in the dining room where residents were visible,” the letter read.
Extendicare Maple View says the home has been classified as 'suspect outbreak' by Algoma Public Health after the confirmed COVID-19 case, denoting a potential exposure of the virus within the long-term care home.
An outbreak was initially declared at the home in early May after three of its residents tested positve for the virus.
“Our team members are screening all residents twice daily, including taking temperatures, as well as closely monitoring their statuses at mealtimes, during general rounds and whenever they visit rooms to provide care or deliver fluids,” read the letter to families and friends of residents. “We are doing everything in our power to stop this virus from entering our home.”
Algoma Manor, a nursing home in Thessalon, also confirmed that one of its staff members tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
There have now been 23 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Algoma District to date.
