Care home outbreaks drive jump in cases, deaths in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark

A series of outbreaks in long-term care homes is driving up the number of COVID-19 cases and deathsin the rural communities of Leeds, Grenville and Lanark.

The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit (LGLDHU) reported 30 new coronavirus cases fora total of 123 and four more deaths, according to a daily reportpublished by the health unit Wednesday.

That's a 32 per cent increase in the number of lab-confirmed cases compared to the day before, and a doubling of the number of people who have died. Long-term care residents make up 45of the total 123 confirmed casesand account forseven of the eight deaths, the report said.

The data show the speed with which the virus has spread within the mostly rural region stretching from Brockville, Ont. in the south to Mississippi Mills, Ont. in the north, which saw its first case on March26.

The region now has the second highest COVID-19 infection rate among all public health units in the province when measured per 100,000 people, according to data from Ontario's Health Ministry.

Cases concentrated in care facilities

Medical officer of health for Leeds, Grenville and Lanark, Paula Stewart, said the numbers are inflated by severe outbreaks in retirement homes and long-term care facilitiesand not necessarily an indication of widespread, community transmission.

"We have a really serious problem in three of those homes," said Stewart. "[But] it doesn't tell what's happening across the whole community."

There are currently sixCOVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities in the region.

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Stewart said the outbreaksat Almonte Country Haven in Mississippi Mills, Ont.,Stoneridge Manor in Carleton Place, Ont., andthe Carolina Retirement Residence in Perth, Ont., allin Lanark County, are particularly concerning.

The health unit has not published specific numbers of cases and deaths at each home despite acallfor greater transparencysaying it's up to each facility to release that data.

Stewart said that focusing too much on daily numbers can mask the fact that cases within the community account for only 38 per cent of the total. The restare among residents of long-term care homes and health-care workers.

Stewart added that the daily jump in new cases from 93 to 123 can be mostly explained byincreased testing at care facilities andthe clearing of the provincial testing backlog, which stood at over 10,000 two weeks ago and hasbeen reduced to about 1,000.

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Eastern Ontario faring comparatively well

The surge in cases and deaths in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark has so far not been replicated in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU), which includes Cornwall and theUnited Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.

EOHU reported a total of 47 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. No one there has died of the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus and there is only one COVID-19 outbreak at a care facility in the region at a group home in Plantagenet, Ont.

Medical officer of health Paul Roumeliotis said his region saw a peak in new cases in the middle of Marchand has only seen a "trickle" of new daily cases since.

"Hopefully our peak is over but we can't rely on that," said Roumeliotis. "We still have some time to go over the next week or two until we make sure that we've collectively flattened that curve."