TORONTO -- Ontario’s minister of long-term care is conceding that there have been some communications failures as COVID-19 spread in homes and staff had to focus solely on protecting residents at the expense of keeping family members in the loop.
But Dr. Merrilee Fullerton is defending her government’s handling of the pandemic overall, telling CP24 that it has brought “every measure and every tool” to the table in an effort to protect our most vulnerable from a “terrible virus” that has now claimed the life of 2,688 residents in long-term care homes.
Fullerton made the comment during a one-on-one interview with Leena Latafat on Tuesday afternoon.
It was her first televised interview in weeks and came on the heels of NDP Leader Andrea Horwath calling for her to be replaced as minister of long-term care.
“The nature of this virus and the testing that we are doing multiple times a week has really been helping with making sure cases don’t get in but it only takes one case,” Fullerton said on Tuesday “That is why it is so incredibly important that everyone does their part in the community and follows the public health guidelines.”
There are now 196 active outbreaks in Ontario’s 626 long-term care homes with those outbreaks having resulted in more than 10,000 resident cases and more than 4,000 staff cases so far.
In her interview with CP24, Fullerton acknowledged that at some homes dealing with outbreaks of COVID-19 “staff have focused on the residents and the communication has lagged.”
She said that her government has required that all licenced homes have a communications plan in the event of an outbreak but she acknowledged that family members haven’t always got the information they deserve.
“Imagine putting yourselves in the shoes of someone who has a loved one in a home like that. You would want to hear, you would want to know what is going on but unfortunately in some instances no matter the plans when it comes right down to it…(communications break down) because these outbreaks are very, very severe in their impact,” she said.
Five more deaths at Scarborough long-term care home
Fullerton has faced criticism for not making herself available to reporters in recent days and weeks as the number of fatalities in the long-term care sector surged.
She is also yet to meet with the family members who have gathered outside Scarborough’s Tendercare Living Centre in recent days to draw attention to its handling of a deadly COVID-19 outbreak that has claimed the life of 48 residents, including five in the last 24 hours alone.
There are also a total of 101 active cases among residents at the home and another 53 among staff. Another 38 staff members previously contracted the virus but have since recovered.
“I would like to know if she has seen the facility? Has she seen what is like? Has she even talked to anyone in there?” Jessica Wong, whose grandmother is a resident at the home, told CTV News Toronto on Tuesday afternoon. “It is a war zone in there.”
Despite concerns that we could be headed for a reprisal of the spring when the military needed to be called in to assist some hard-hit long term care homes, Fullerton told CP24 that “we are not in the same situation as wave one.”
She said that for one officials did not realize the threat that asymptomatic transmission would pose to homes during the first wave of the pandemic in the spring but are much more “cognisant” of that now.
She said that staffing also appears to be “holding” this time around, though she acknowledged that there is a need for more nurses at Scarborough’s Tendercare Living Centre.
Of course, not everyone is optimistic about what lies ahead.
In a subsequent interview on Tuesday afternoon, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said that it is “absolutely unacceptable and unconscionable that nine or 10 months into this pandemic we are still searching for answers” on how to control the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes.
Horwath also slammed Fullerton’s handling of the crisis in an earlier statement, accusing her of being focused on “politically motivated talking points” while "brushing off the severity of the crisis in long-term care to avoid having to make the investments needed to stop the spread and protect our loved ones from this horrific virus.”
"Our government is dedicated to long-term care, I am dedicated to long-term care and I am bringing every ounce and every measure that I can to fight a deadly, deadly virus that has impacted our most vulnerable people and we will continue to bring every measure and use every tool,” Fullerton said when asked whether she stands by her government’s handling of the pandemic.
“But everyone has a role to play in this. Everyone can be a part of this solution. So I would encourage everyone to spend their energy finding solutions and assisting.”
