A move to have B.C. health care workers in seniors homes work at only a single facility will be mostly in place as early as next week, says B.C.’s provincial health officer.
“I do expect it will be substantially implemented within the next week to two weeks,” Dr. Bonnie Henry said.
Henry issued the order last week in a bid to help prevent COVID-19 transmissions between locations. It affects health-care workers in public and private seniors homes throughout B.C.
Ontario is now going the same route.
Changes to carry out the order — giving workers equitable wages, hours and benefits to stay in one location — is anticipated to cost B.C. $10 million a month, Health Minister Adrian Dix said.
There are tens of thousands of health care workers involved, but Dix said about 4,200 are directly affected.
Henry said carrying out the order is a complicated process in the Lower Mainland, in particular in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions.
“It’s going to take a little bit of time for all the dust to settle, but I know that in Island Health, where there are fewer people who are involved, and in the Interior and the North, it’s moving ahead as well,” she said.
As of Thursday, there were COVID-19 outbreaks at 26 long-term care and assisted living homes in B.C., up from 21 on Wednesday.
More than 265 people at the facilities — including staff and residents — have fallen ill.
There were two new outbreaks at facilities in the Interior and Fraser health regions, and new cases at four facilities where outbreaks had been declared over, according to a statement from Henry and Dix.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said this week that nearly half of the known COVID-19 deaths in Canada were related to outbreaks in long-term care homes or seniors residences.
According to the province, at least 47 of the deaths recorded in B.C. are related to long-term care homes.
Since March 26, staff at B.C. facilities with outbreaks have not been allowed to work at more than one site. The move followed major outbreaks at two care homes in the Vancouver area.
Health-care workers working casual and part-time were employed in multiple facilities and that hampered containment efforts and increased the risk of transmission between facilities.
