COVID-19 outbreaks in BC hospitals and retirement homes fell to just four this week, out of dozen at times last year, and Health Secretary Adrian Dix credits strict vaccination regulations for staff and visitors for the improvement.
Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, have also given older people a booster dose, whose weaker immune systems make them much more susceptible to “breakthrough infections” after two doses of the vaccine.
“At the end of October, we had about 20 long-term care outbreaks, six acute care outbreaks, three assisted living outbreaks,” Dix said at a November 30 pandemic briefing. “So the effects of the measures taken are both” mandatory vaccination, booster doses and efforts to ensure visitors are having an effect. “
Some of the most persistent outbreaks have occurred in areas of Abbotsford Regional Hospital and the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, which have recently been dealing with multiple areas of the outbreak log at the same time. Henry says acute hospitals are at higher risk because they can’t restrict who comes for treatment.
“I think it’s clear that acute outbreaks can spread pretty quickly,” said Henry. “And part of that is patients who come out of the community and have the undetected disease, and then it’s discovered after it spreads through the hospital system.”
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Henry often emphasizes “protective layers” and for hospital visitors this includes proof of vaccination, mandatory hand sanitizer and masks, and screening questions to identify respiratory symptoms. In most care areas, visitors are limited to two at a time.
Two of the deadliest nursing home outbreaks in BC occurred at Tabor Home in Abbotsford and Langley Lodge in late 2020, before vaccination for residents and staff was completed. Tabor Home had more than 150 confirmed infections by early December 2020, around a third of them among employees, and 25 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
The most difficult care settings for infection control are dementia wards, where residents wander around and mingle with one another unless blocked or restrained by doors.
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BC Legislature Coronavirus
