BC quick action curbed number of COVID deaths in long-term care: Analysis

VANCOUVER– An analysis published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal finds quicker more decisive action in B-C curbed the number of COVID-19 deaths in long-term care homes, compared with deaths in Ontario facilities.

Between the start of the pandemic and September 10, data shows 466 COVID-19 cases and156 deaths in B-C care homes while Ontario recorded just over 18-hundred deaths and nearly six-thousand cases.

The study cites lower funding, more privatization and poorer co-ordination between homes and hospitals as some of the reasons for the higher deaths in Ontario.

A speedy response by B-C’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry to staffing issues and infection prevention at care homes — as well as clear, consistent messages to the public — are all mentioned in the report as reasons for the lower risks to the elderly in this province