(STL.News) Global Toronto’s Caryn Lieberman takes a look inside Downsview Long-Term Care Centre and Humber River Hospital, where the staff is still visibly shaken after dealing with some severe COVID-19 outbreaks. Downsview went through one period where they lost 63 residents and one staff member. “It was like a war zone…I don’t know what got us through,” says Andrea Cuff, a Registered Practical Nurse at Downsview.
Vaccinations in Ontario long-term care homes have prevented hundreds of COVID-19 deaths and thousands of infections, scientists advising the province said in a report released Monday.
The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table said that eight weeks after vaccinations began in December, infections were reduced by 89 percent among long-term care residents and by 79 percent among workers.
Deaths from COVID-19 among long-term care residents were reduced by 96 percent over the same period.
“These data highlight the importance of accelerating vaccine rollout to priority populations who are at disproportionately high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 hospitalization, and death,” the report said.