Some COVID-positive residents can roam freely in Côte St-Luc CHSLD

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The Omicron variant is now so widespread at the Maimonides Geriatric Center in Côte St-Luc that some residents who are COVID-positive are allowed to circulate in common areas while those who are negative are confined to their rooms, the Montreal Gazette has learned. . .

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This policy change alters the standard protocol in long-term care facilities to isolate those infected during the pandemic and allow freedom of movement for those who have not contracted the coronavirus.

“We have decided to adopt a reverse isolation strategy,” wrote site coordinator Daniela Vrabie and chief physician Dr. Kris MacMahon in a letter to residents and family members on January 6.

“Those residents who have tested negative for the virus will be isolated in their rooms. Those neighbors who have tested positive will be able to circulate through the common areas ”.

The policy change mainly applies to the third floor, which is reserved for residents who “have behavioral problems and tend to wander.” It also underscores how the highly contagious variant of Omicron is putting pressure on long-term care facilities in unexpected ways amid a major staff shortage.

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But some relatives of Maimonides residents are not happy with the change.

“My father has had three tests done so far and he’s negative, but he can’t leave his room either and he’s on the fifth floor,” said the relative, who agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity.

“Psychologically, how much more can my father take? And I’m afraid to go see my father. I haven’t been there in a month.

The impact of the fifth wave is beginning to be felt in the province’s network of public and private long-stay centers, known in French as CHSLD. Since January 6, the number of residents who have died from COVID-19 has increased from 61 to at least 74.

Currently, there are 2,696 active cases in CHLSD. The Lanaudière region is the most affected by the outbreaks. In a Lanaudière CHSLD, all 16 residents tested positive for the coronavirus, with 17 dying in recent days.

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During the first wave of the pandemic from February to June 2020, when vaccination was not available, nearly 4,000 Quebecers died in long-term care. Since then, nearly all CHSLD residents have received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but the Omicron variant has nonetheless led to the highest absenteeism rate to date among nurses and other caregivers in long-term care.

Francine Dupuis, deputy executive director of the health authority in charge of Maimonides, said the decision to allow COVID-positive residents to leave their rooms is based on compassion and reflects the harsh reality that Omicron is simply everywhere. at this time.

“Most of the residents are not very sick because they have been vaccinated three times and some of them are not sick at all,” explained Dupuis. “We lack enough private rooms to isolate people.”

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“We are going to let asymptomatic positive cases circulate or those that are not very sick because it is worse to isolate them,” he added. “They get so depressed that their mental health is under attack. If (almost) the entire floor is positive, why would we continue to isolate them? Why should we deprive them of social activities, which is the only thing they have left? “

Under the standard infection control protocol, healthcare workers seek to contain an outbreak in a hospital or nursing home by isolating only infected people. That has always been the case with the flu and gastroenteritis. But during the early days of the pandemic, that was not always the case for infected residents in CHSLD, and it is proving difficult once again due to increased absenteeism among healthcare workers.

Given the severe shortage of staff, Health Minister Christian Dubé announced last month that some infected healthcare staff would be allowed to work “case by case, region by region, hospital by hospital, CHSLD by CHSLD”, a strategy that has put at risk spreading the virus even more.

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