An outbreak of COVID-19 at West Vancouver’s Capilano Care Centre has resulted in 36 people testing positive for the virus.
A total of 20 elderly residents and 16 staff had tested positive for the virus as of Tuesday, according to a letter sent by the management of the nursing home to families. That number is expected to grow, according to the letter.
A COVID-19 outbreak was been declared at the 205-bed seniors home on Nov. 9 after two staff members at the home on Clyde Avenue tested positive for COVID-19.
Since then, the outbreak has continued to grow.
All residents and staff at the care home are now being tested for the virus.
Numbers of positive tests at the care home are expected to increase as those tests identify transmissions that happened before the latest outbreak measures were put in place, according to the letter to families.
Among those measures, residents are being kept in their rooms and will receive meals there.
It also means family members will not be allowed to visit during the outbreak.
According to the letter sent to families, residents will also receive sponge baths in their rooms and will not be bathed or showered in the usual facilities.
The Capilano Care Centre is operated by a private company, Revera, under contract to the government, and has both private and shared rooms. About half of the rooms at the care home are shared.
An outbreak at the North Shore care home is one of about 40 outbreaks at long-term care homes in B.C., most of those in the Fraser Health region. There are 10 outbreaks at long term care homes in Vancouver Coast Health, as of Thursday. Currently the Capilano Care Centre is the only health care outbreak on the North Shore.
The outbreak is happening as Dr. Bonnie Henry has announced more restrictions on social gatherings throughout the province to try to stem rising case numbers. On Thursday, there were 6,929 active cases of COVID-19 in the province with 217 people in hospital and 59 of them in intensive care.
The North Shore was the first community in the country to be affected by a care home outbreak, when the virus tore through the Lynn Valley Care Centre at the beginning of March.
Altogether, 28 elderly residents on the North Shore died of the virus in three separate North Vancouver seniors' homes, including Lynn Valley Care Centre, Berkley Care Centre and Amica’s Edgemont retirement home.
Other North Shore care homes hit by outbreaks this spring during the first wave of the pandemic included Evergreen House, Hollyburn House and Inglewood Care Centre.
The last outbreak - at North Vancouver's Berkley Care Centre – was declared over June 5.
