Hastings Prince Edward Public Health has confirmed a facility-wide outbreak of COVID-19 at H.J. McFarland Memorial Home after two residents and four staff members tested positive. The outbreak went into effect on Wednesday, December 28.
“The recent winter storm and now the COVID-19 outbreak have made for an extremely challenging holiday season. I want to publicly thank and recognize each and every staff member for their hard work and dedication to the residents,” says Kyle Cotton, Executive Director of the H.J. McFarland Memorial Home.
- Any visitors or staff working in a resident home area (RHA) with a suspected or confirmed positive COVID-19 test will be required to wear full personal protective equipment, N95 masks, gowns, gloves, and eye protection when entering that resident’s room.
- All other units’ staff will wear a surgical mask with a face shield or eyewear.
- Visitors are restricted to only essential and a maximum of two caregivers.
For confidentiality reasons, H.J. McFarland Memorial Home cannot share any identifiable or additional information about the positive cases.
To help limit the spread of infection, the Home has implemented several additional safety measures, including:
- The positive or suspected case and high-risk contacts will be isolated and monitored for symptoms.
- Residents will be offered surgical masks, and increased hand washing and sanitizing will be encouraged
- Staff and residents will be cohorted to limit the potential spread of COVID-19
- Large group activities are cancelled.
- Small group activities with the same units are allowed.
- Increased cleaning and disinfection practices (e.g., at least two times a day for high-touch surfaces and when visibly dirty)
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