COVID-19 Update Feb 16, 2021: Updated Vaccine Eligibility

February 16, 2021

Hello everyone,

I hope you were able to enjoy a safe and happy Family Day weekend.

I will begin by updating you on the three outbreaks we are currently dealing with. For our staff, residents and families at Seasons Camrose, Seasons Clarington and Seasons Welland, please refer to your site-specific updates and communication for current outbreak protocols and restrictions in place at your homes.

Seasons Camrose in Alberta. A week has passed with no new cases at Seasons Camrose. Very sadly, another resident has passed away from COVID-19. On behalf of Seasons, we extend our sincere condolences to this resident’s friends, family and to the Seasons team members who cared for this individual.  Our remaining active resident case is now considered resolved, which means we have zero resident cases at this time and zero staff cases. It is our hope that we are on the path to putting this challenging outbreak behind us.

Seasons Welland in Ontario. I am glad to share that we have no resident cases of COVID-19 at this time. We are now waiting on the test result of one team member. Should things continue to progress well, we hope to have our outbreak rescinded this week.

Seasons Clarington in Ontario. At this time, we continue to have 2 positive staff cases, and we now have 3 positive resident cases. Both the staff and the resident cases are contained in the Memory Care area of this home.

In Ontario, the government announced a phased approach to reopening the province. For information on what phase your region falls into, visit their website. The Retirement Home Regulatory Authority (RHRA) has a scenario matrix for visiting retirement homes. Please visit their website for information on the current visitor and resident absence directive. Just a reminder that outbreak protocol supersedes the zoned approach to visits/absences, as outlined in the RHRA scenario matrix.

This week, our Ontario residences fall into the following zones:

• Grey: Seasons Welland
• Red: Seasons Amherstburg, Seasons Royal Oak Village, Seasons Belle River, Seasons Strathroy, Seasons Stoney Creek, Seasons Clarington, Seasons Cambridge, Seasons St. Thomas and Seasons Milton
• Orange: Seasons Brantford
• Yellow: Seasons Owen Sound
• Green: Seasons Dufferin Centre

In Alberta, the government also announced a phased approach to reopening the province. For more information, visit their website.

Despite the phased re-opening of both provinces, there are new COVID variants present in Ontario and Alberta that are proving to be even easier to transmit. As a result, we know we need to be extra vigilant with our infection prevention and control (IPAC) protocols in order to ensure the health of our staff and residents.

We continue to ask all residents to:

• Self-isolate for 14 days if you did not follow provincial requests to remain on-site, instead choosing to visit with friends and/or family at another household, especially where infection prevention and control protocols were not followed
• Wear a mask continuously when you are not in your suite
• Practice good hand hygiene and physical distancing
• If you feel unwell, report it immediately to a Seasons Team Member

We continue to ask all Designated Visitors to:

• Review our infection prevention and control training tools as required monthly
• Not visit a Seasons Community for 14 days if you visited with family and/or friends from another household within the last week
• Wear a mask continuously while visiting a Seasons resident (this means not eating or drinking while you are visiting)
• Practice good hand hygiene and physical distancing
• If, after your visit, you become symptomatic or are notified that you had close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual, please contact Seasons immediately

Thank you all for your cooperation. We know that it takes the collective effort of our staff, residents and families to keep our communities safe from COVID-19. We will not tolerate any individual who puts our communities’ safety at risk. Failure to comply with safety protocols may result in restrictions on residents and those who wish to visit them. When it comes to our team members, we will not hesitate to discipline or terminate anyone for occupational health and safety risks created by team member choices and actions.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Both Ontario and Alberta have set mandates to finish vaccinating all remaining residents in congregate living settings such as retirement residences. Residents are priority for vaccination and the prescribed schedule for 21-28 days for the second dose. However, staff (and designated essential caregivers where they have been allowed to participate) are being pushed to anywhere from 35 – 42 days. Just a reminder that Seasons does not coordinate these dates, they are set by Public Health and/or Alberta Health Services. As soon as we are informed of the dates, we will advise all stakeholders; please keep in mind that sometimes we get very little notice.

As we roll out the vaccines to more Seasons communities, we must remain vigilant. The immunity provided by the vaccine is not fully effective until after the second dose is administered, and even that dose does not guarantee immediate efficacy. Even if a resident has received two doses, visitors must continue to follow our protocols including health screening, continuous masking, good hand hygiene and physical distancing.

Alberta Vaccination Eligibility & Clinic Dates:

As we noted last week, we were very happy to learn that Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services have reevaluated their vaccination strategy and are now including our independent living residents.

Ontario Vaccination Eligibility & Clinic Dates:

Please rest assured that Seasons Retirement Communities remains focused on the health and safety of our staff and residents. Whether you live or work with us, we take our responsibility to you very seriously. We appreciate your ongoing cooperation and support.

Sincerely,

LeighAnne Voll
Chief Operating Officer,
Seasons Retirement Communities

For additional online resources for COVID-19 you can visit the following sites:

Canada Health
Alberta Health
Alberta Health Services
Public Health Ontario
Retirement Home Regulatory Authority