Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is confirming the first case of the novel coronavirus to hit a retirement residence.
The infected person from the Orléans Promenade Retirement Residence and their spouse, also a resident at the home, are both battling the virus in hospital.
According to Ottawa’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, all of the facility’s residents are in isolation and staff have implemented outbreak management.
“Specifically, wearing a mask when entering the building, and following droplet and contact procedures in all resident rooms,” said Dr. Vera Etches.
OPH is also tracking down anyone who had been in close contact with the affected residents, as it does in every confirmed case of COVID-19.
Overall, OPH is investigating 75 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city — 17 of those are in hospital, seven of which are in an intensive care unit (ICU).
Most patients in Ottawa’s ICUs have been in their 50s and 60s; only one is older than 70, Ottawa’s chief medical officer said.
“I think there’s a misperception that this is just about people over 70, and younger people don’t need to worry,” said Dr. Etches. “But all of our actions, across every age group, can expose other people who are at-risk to more serious illness.”
So far, OPH has been able to trace where 84 per cent of all local cases of COVID-19 have come from, but the other 16 per cent of patients have no travel history and no known contact with another confirmed positive patient.
