Manitoba continues to pursue the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program for residents in personal care homes, given the particular vulnerability of our resident population.

Vaccination is one of the many tools in place to prevent COVID-19 transmission that is being implemented in addition to the many other precautions we have put in place over the past year to protect your loved one.

While we understand the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine to be approximately 95 per cent effective after 7-14 days following the second dose, we do not yet know much about how long protection lasts or whether vaccinated persons can still unknowingly infect others. While evidence continues to emerge, our residents remain a high-risk population for severe illness related to COVID-19 and we must continue to be vigilant with efforts to prevent cases of COVID-19 within our facility.

This means that preventative measures will remain in place at our facility for the foreseeable future. This includes:

• staff, resident and visitor screening (including designated family caregivers and general visitors as well as anyone else seeking entry to our facility);
• 14-day isolation of newly admitted or readmitted residents;
• frequent and thorough hand hygiene;
• physical distancing;
• appropriate use of non-medical masks and/or facility-provided personal protective equipment; and
• visitor restrictions including limits to the number of permitted visitors, requirements of where visits may occur, and limitations on leaves of absence for non-essential or social purposes.

We are carefully balancing these precautions with the known benefits of socialization and recreational activities. For facilities that are not experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, the following activities may occur, with the noted precautions in place:

Hairdressers may be permitted, but are only permitted to work in one PCH. Screening must be in place prior to entry, as well as physical distancing, occupancy limits in the designated resident hair care area, and enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols must be followed. Masks must be worn by all hair salon staff as well as residents who are able to tolerate wearing a mask.

Recreational and group activities may be permitted, with physical distancing between residents and any other participant. Participation must be limited to residents from a single unit or single floor and materials may not be shared unless they can be cleaned and disinfected between each resident.

Covid-19 Vaccine: All Tudor House residents that consented to receiving the Covid Vaccine received their 2^nd dose today by IERHA Public Health FIT Team Nurses. The Vaccination process went very well this morning and everyone was done by lunchtime. The few new residents that received a first dose will be followed up by Public health at a future visit for the 2^nd Dose.

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New Admisions during Pandemic Response System Level RED (CRITICAL):  We are providing advance notice to all families with residents in Private Rooms that during the Pandemic Response System Level RED (CRITICAL) it will be necessary to “Temporarily” move a resident in a private room to accommodate a New Admission being placed in “Quarantine” for a full 14 days. New residents from hospital, other nursing homes and the community need to be placed in isolation to protect our other residents and ensure there is no COVID infection risks to the facility. We definitely do not want to go back into an Outbreak situation again.

To be fair and equitable to all residents we are trying to take turns so it is not always the same resident that must move. Families will be notified in advance when this is occurring and which double room they will be moving to for the two weeks. Before they return to their own room it will be cleaned & disinfected and the room will be restored to as close as we can to how it was. We will move only stable residents and only within the unit or cohort. Residents on end-of-life or with special care needs will not be moved.

We sincerely regret the necessity for needing to do this but it is very necessary to keep all our residents safe.   Our building is very old, 50 years, and we have many double rooms and shared washrooms, hopefully in the future we can get renovations that will make this process unnecessary as each resident will have a private room. We are advocating for these infrastructure improvements and hopefully they will come soon.

If you have any questions or concerns please speak to your assigned Nurse Manager for more information. They can be contacted at the below contact information. Again, thank you for your patience and support during these difficult times. Stay safe, wear a mask and social distance. 😊

Majel Dignadice RN Maples Hall
Tel: (204) 482-6601 Ext: 138

Laetitia Martyniw RN BN Poplar Oak Hall
Tel: (204) 482-6601 Ext: 139