District of Muskoka staff are pleased to share that the Pines Long Term Care Home remains free of any COVID-19 positive cases. While the home remains outbreak free, District staff remain highly focused on protecting residents and staff at the Pines Long-Term Care Home from the COVID-19 virus. Extensive measures are being taken to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of residents and staff.
The District wishes to thank all residents, families and staff for their hard work, perseverance and dedication that has made this significant achievement possible.
“We would also like to thank the community for their on-going support and best wishes” the District said in a press release.
Status of Visiting:
On Tuesday, November 3, 2020, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) issued a Section 22 class order to immediately restrict all indoor visits, short stay and temporary absences at Long-Term Care homes in Simcoe-Muskoka. Effective that date, only one essential visitor is allowed at one time for each resident. The class order also limits resident movement outside of LTC homes to those related only to health care. The order applies to all Long-Term Care homes in Simcoe County and the District of Muskoka, but does not apply to retirement homes or other congregate care settings at this time.
Essential visitors are defined as:
- people who are not members of a facility’s staff, but are performing essential support services such as healthcare or maintenance;
- a person visiting a very ill or palliative resident;
- a caregiver designated by the resident or their substitute decision maker who comes in to provide direct care and support to the resident.
This ensures that a family member or designate who comes in to help a resident with their meals, personal hygiene, mental stimulation, communications or other needs will not be prevented from visiting. A maximum of two people may be designated as essential caregivers for a resident at this time.
More details about the order are available from SMDHU
Status of Testing:
- Scheduled bi-weekly testing of all staff continues, in an effort to support early detection of any spread of the COVID-19 virus in the home.
How can the community help? Take extra care:
According to Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) community spread of the COVID-19 has sharply risen to numbers not seen since the Spring of 2020, and they are asking the public to shrink their social circles as much as possible to those within their own household, and to be cautious with all interactions in order to reduce exposure within the community.
SMDHU has provided the following steps to keep everyone safe, including those returning to school and those living in long-term care homes:
- Shrink your close contacts (the people you can get close to such as hugging and touching) as much as possible to people within your own household and those who require or depend on it.
- Think carefully about how often you leave your house and where you go, so that you limit your movements to what is essential and avoid crowded spaces.
- Limit social gatherings, and keep the number of people in your gatherings and get-togethers to 10 people or less indoors, and 25 or less outdoors. When meeting people outside of your household, practice physical distancing, or wear a mask if you can’t.
- Parents should screen children for symptoms of COVID-19 every day before they leave for school and when they return form school. If a child has even one symptom, they should stay home, self-isolate, and get tested for the COVID-19 virus as soon as possible.
