The Drew Nursing Home in Sackville has 10 active cases of COVID-19 as of Friday afternoon, and is bracing for more potential cases after tests conducted on Saturday and Sunday are processed.
Since last Monday night, three employees and seven residents of the Drew have tested positive for COVID-19. An update on case numbers reflecting weekend testing is expected later today.
Mike Keating, interim director of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes, says the Drew is one of eight nursing homes in the province to report cases of COVID-19 in the current wave, and that the province’s rapid outbreak management teams (PROMTs) are stretched thin.
The province has not not mentioned the outbreak at the Drew in daily COVID news releases, and has not yet formally declared the 10-case cluster an outbreak. Very little information about long term care homes has been shared by New Brunswick public health so far in the fourth wave.
The outbreak at the Drew started with a single case in an employee reported last Monday night. Then on Wednesday, public health conducted testing covering residents in two of the Drew’s three units, as well as some staff.
Keating says that as of this past weekend, all staff have been tested, and residents have been tested a second time.
Keating also says there are no people in hospital so far, and the seven residents are all experiencing mild symptoms. He also says that all the cases are in one unit of the home, the Chignecto unit.
All residents of the Drew have been fully vaccinated for some time, but there are employees without any vaccination, says Keating.
Earlier in September, Keating raised the alarm that over 18% of nursing home staff in the province were unvaccinated, about 1500 people.
“I don’t have the exact numbers on the staff,” says Keating of the Drew. “I do know that there are some that are not vaccinated, that haven’t been vaccinated at all.”
Keating couldn’t say on Sunday evening whether public health is preventing unvaccinated employees from continuing to work at the Drew. This Wednesday, a new provincial rule comes into effect requiring employees of nursing homes to be fully vaccinated, or else get tested three times per week and wear a mask at work.
One employee at the Drew said that under the circumstances, “it’s all hands on deck,” and the home is currently looking for anyone with nursing experience to work some shifts.
“Management is doing everything they can to assist and is truly amazing during this time,” said the employee. “And of course the staff is going above and beyond.” The employee was concerned, however, that the government had not yet declared an outbreak at the Drew (as has been the practice throughout the pandemic), and that it took nearly a week before all employees were tested for COVID-19.
Keating says the Department of Social Development and the Department of Public Health have been assisting with staffing because some employees can’t come into work. He says the nursing home association will be meeting Monday to put together a list of retired nurses and nurses who may be able to help. “Most of the nursing homes are stretched as far as they can be stretched,” says Keating, “and can’t afford to lend employees.”
The Drew Nursing Home is not the only Sackville institution with current cases of COVID-19. Both the Port Elgin Consolidated School and Tantramar Regional High School will be closed Monday due to school community cases.
