According to a report released Wednesday by the BC Centre for Disease Control, at least 90 COVID-19 infections have been linked to the Willingdon Care Centre. Sixty-nine of the confirmed cases are in residents, with the remaining 21 in staff. The report contained three confirmed deaths, but Health Minister Adrian Dix announced on Thursday that the number had been increased to ten. He referred to the situation as a “tragedy.””Willingdon is currently, by far, our most significant outbreak,” he said at a press conference. Willingdon’s outbreak was declared on September 27. The virus ravaged British Columbia’s long-term care homes earlier in the pandemic when residents were unvaccinated, and the more transmissible Delta variant appears to be causing breakthrough infections in some immunised seniors.
Long-term care residents are eligible for COVID-19 booster shots, which were started in early October. Vaccination is now required for care home workers in British Columbia as of October 12. Several other care homes in BC’s Interior are also dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks, but Willingdon is currently the province’s largest.
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