Burnaby has four active COVID-19 outbreaks, with three people now dead after testing positive at one site.
New Vista Care Home on Rosewood Street has 22 people who have tested positive for the virus, according to an emailed update to the families of residents shared with the NOW.
Out of the 22 cases, 14 have been residents and eight are staff members, said the email. The outbreak started with one staff member.
“Ten residents with COVID are being cared for by our clinical team in isolation areas,” says the email. “One resident and one staff member have recovered and sadly we’ve had three residents pass away. At the direction of Fraser Health (FHA) we have tested 200+ residents and staff, with the vast majority of tests coming back negative. Based on direction from FHA, all residents are taking meals in their rooms and have been isolated from other residents. Any essential visitations to the Care Home, except in cases where residents are palliative, remain suspended until further notice.”
The latest positive cases follow three other “outbreaks” – the term used by Fraser Health – at Burnaby care homes. A resident of Burnaby’s George Derby Centre tested positive for COVID-19 recently, and staff at Burnaby’s Derby Manor and Dania Home have also tested positive in the few weeks. One worker at Stay Fresh in Metropolis at Metrotown tested positive and that store was closed temporarily. Read more about that here.
According to an update by provincial health officials on Tuesday, there were 58 new cases identified, including one presumed, or "epi-linked" case, meaning that since the pandemic started, B.C. has discovered 5,242 cases of COVID-19. Of those patients, 4,114 have recovered, and 203 have died.
Those battling infections who are not in hospital are self-isolating at home. There are also 2,675 people who are under active public-health monitoring as a result of identified exposure to known cases.
The breakdown of all COVID-19 infections in the province by health region is:
• 1,683 in Vancouver Coastal Health (up 32);
• 2,762 in Fraser Health (up 23);
• 168 in Island Health (up two);
• 425 in Interior Health (no change);
• 128 in Northern Health (up one); and
• 76 people who reside outside Canada (no change).
Fraser Health's interim chief medical health officer Elizabeth Brodkin, on August 25, mentioned two situations where there has been COVID-19 at hospitals.
She said a COVID-19 outbreak has taken place at Langley Memorial Hospital, which involved a single patient who was released and then tested positive for the disease. Brodkin declined to say when the patient was at Langley Memorial Hospital, and released, in order to protect that person's confidentiality. News of the incident arose on August 25.
She added that at Royal Columbian Hospital one staff person tested positive after having conducted surgery in an operating room. Brodkin said that this case was likely contracted in the community so it is not officially considered an outbreak at the hospital.
- With files from Glen Korstrom, Glacier Media
