COVID-19 death toll at Mississauga long-term care home reaches 50

TORONTO -- Two more residents of a Mississauga long-term care home facing one of the province’s worst outbreaks of COVID-19 have died.

This brings the death toll at Camilla Care Community to 50.

“We are sadly grieving the loss of the 50 residents who had tested positive for COVID-19 and who passed away since the beginning of the outbreak, throughout the last few weeks,” a spokesperson for the facility said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families for their loss. Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones at this time.”

Additionally, there are 62 active cases of the novel coronavirus among residents at the 236-bed facility located near Queensway West and Hurontario Street.

Another 35 staff members, who also tested positive, are recovering at home, according to Camilla Care Community,

49 residents and 12 team members have since made a full recovery, the long-term care home says, which is welcome news to families of residents who say they have been frustrated with the lack of communication from the facility’s management.

The long-term care home is operated by Sienna Senior Living, which also oversees Altamont Care Community, another facility facing a COVID-19 outbreak. As of Thursday, Altamont Care Community reported 46 COVID-19 deaths. A personal support worker who worked at the facility has also died.

Five other long-term care homes in the province are reporting more than 40 deaths – Orchard Villa in Pickering, Seven Oaks in Scarborough, Eatonville Care Centre in Etobicoke, Forest Heights in Kitchener and Isabel and Arthur Meighen Manor in Toronto.

Deaths in Ontario long-term care homes account for 74 per cent of all deaths recorded in the province.

As of Saturday morning, 1,187 residents in those facilities have died as a result of COVID-19, while 2,773 more residents have tested positive for the virus, according to the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

There are currently 237 confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19 in Ontario’s 630 long-term care homes. 

With files from Katherine DeClerq.