COVID-19 Update Feb 9, 2021: Updated Vaccine Eligibility

February 9, 2021

Hello everyone,

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. All Independent Living (IL) cases have been resolved. Presently, we have four active resident cases in the Supportive Living area of this community and three active staff cases.  This is good progress and we hope to have the IL outbreak rescinded soon.

Seasons Welland in Ontario. We continue to have just one, asymptomatic resident case of COVID-19. To date, all resident and staff tests that have been returned, have yielded negative results. As a result, and with the support of Niagara Region Public Health, all residents who are not isolating with droplet precautions, were able to return to the dining room for meals yesterday.

Seasons Clarington in Ontario. This community was placed in outbreak status on February 5^th. We currently have two positive team members at Seasons Clarington. Surveillance testing of all Memory Care residents and staff took place on February 6^th. Testing of all other staff and residents will occur today. We will update the Seasons Clarington community directly as soon as the results are returned.

In Ontario, the government announced a phased approach to reopening the province yesterday. 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.

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

I know it has been a long eleven months and that many people may have COVID fatigue. However, now is not the time to be complacent. 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

More Seasons communities were contacted last week about dates for first and second-round vaccinations. This is a good sign that the vaccination roll-out is back on track. Other Seasons communities continue to wait to be contacted by their Local Public Health Units (LPHU) and/or Alberta Health Services (AHS) to delay either first round or second round vaccination clinics. As you know, we are at their mercy when it comes to timing and availability.

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:

We were very happy last week to learn that AH and AHS have reevaluated their vaccination strategy and are now including our independent living residents.

Ontario Vaccination Eligibility & Clinic Dates:

Like you, I look forward to a time when COVID-19 is behind us, and no longer the threat to our health that it is today. In the meantime, please rest assured that Seasons Retirement Communities remains laser-focused on the health and safety of our staff and residents. I know you have many choices when it comes to retirement living and we are grateful that you have selected Seasons as your home. We take our responsibility to you very seriously and we appreciate your 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