{"id":11461,"date":"2020-05-06T16:53:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T20:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=11461"},"modified":"2020-06-22T04:15:46","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T08:15:46","slug":"an-ontario-nurse-explains-how-covid-19-gets-into-care-homes-then-hits-health-care-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/an-ontario-nurse-explains-how-covid-19-gets-into-care-homes-then-hits-health-care-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ontario nurse explains how COVID-19 gets into care homes, then hits health-care workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(May 5, 2020)<\/p>\n<p>By: CBC News<\/p>\n<div class=\"Maw(100%) Pos(r) H(0) Cur(p)\" data-reactid=\"14\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" StretchedBox W(100%) H(100%) ie-7_H(a)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/ZfqcKM4l95TSziqczeFOcA--~A\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9NjIwO2g9NDEz\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cbc.ca\/5ed548730fbc08a3870b43ce97150db6\" alt=\"\" data-reactid=\"15\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-mask StretchedBox Fz(15px)\" data-reactid=\"17\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ov(h) Pos(r) Ff(ss) Mah(80px)\" data-reactid=\"26\">\n<div class=\"figure-caption\" data-reactid=\"28\">An Ontario nurse explains how COVID-19 gets into care homes, then hits health-care workers.<\/div>\n<div data-reactid=\"28\">\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"32\">As the weeks went by in March, and COVID-19 cases in Canada kept ticking upwards, Pamella started to worry about residents coming and going from the long-term care facility where she worked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"33\">The registered practical nurse had been caring for elderly residents at the 126-bed Rekai Centre at Sherbourne Place in Toronto for 16 years, administering their medications, hooking them up to dialysis machines, and answering calls from their loved ones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"34\">It was common for those clients to leave for therapy sessions or medical appointments. Amid a pandemic, Pamella feared the constant back and forth could put everyone at risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"35\">By mid-March, the no-nonsense 54-year-old \u2014 whose identity CBC News is protecting due to concerns about her job security \u2014 started warning her colleagues COVID-19 was clearly spreading through the city. She felt the home should cancel outside appointments for a while, and stop taking new admissions too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"36\">Instead, Pamella says a resident was sent across the downtown core for his regular therapy appointment at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health \u2014 a facility which has since reported multiple outbreaks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"37\">The\u00a0man later started coughing on March 19. Just\u00a0over a week later, test results showed he had the virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"38\">&#8220;In the back of my head, I&#8217;m thinking, &#8216;Oh Christ,'&#8221; Pamella recalls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"39\">A married mother of three, she didn&#8217;t want to risk catching the potentially deadly illness and bringing it home to her family \u2014 but it was already too late. The man had mingled with fellow residents at Rekai Centre for days before his cough started, and staff members didn&#8217;t wear full protective gear while caring for him until after he showed symptoms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"40\">As Pamella puts it: &#8220;We were already exposed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"41\">Soon after the resident&#8217;s results came back, Pamella started to feel feverish, with a bit of a headache. Maybe it was nothing, she thought. Then she started sneezing, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"42\">On the last Sunday in March, she drove to St. Michael&#8217;s Hospital in downtown Toronto to get tested.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"43\">Four days later, the results came back positive. Pamella had COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More than 2,700\u00a0healthcare workers infected\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"45\">It&#8217;s now early May, and the COVID-19 crisis in Canada is still in full swing. Here in Ontario, roughly 18,000 people have fallen ill and 1,300 have died, while others could be infected without even knowing it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"46\">Health-care advocates warned front-line workers were among those most at risk early on in the pandemic, amid concerns over personal protective equipment shortages and memories of the staggering toll on hospital staff during\u00a0the SARS epidemic in 2003.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"47\">The predictions are proving accurate. While it&#8217;s not clear where each health-care worker is getting infected, the number of positive cases keeps on rising \u2014 hitting 2,761 confirmed cases by May 4, according to the province.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"48\">So far, at least five of those infected front-line workers have died, and front-line staff are\u00a0increasingly making up a greater chunk of the grand total of cases.<\/p>\n<p>In early April, roughly 10 per cent of Ontario&#8217;s cases were people working in the health-care field, including physicians, nurses, and personal support workers, as <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\">CBC News first reported<\/a><\/span> on April 2 (the province did not start reporting this detail in its daily epidemiological summary until April 5).<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"50\">Now, a month later, health-care\u00a0workers make up 15.4 per cent of all cases.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nurse felt ill &#8216;from head to toe&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"52\">After joining the rising number of workers testing positive, Pamella stayed in isolation, avoiding any contact with her husband and her youngest teenage son, who still lives at the couple&#8217;s Whitby home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"53\">Alone in a bedroom as March turned into April, Pamella coped with headaches and the occasional cough as her\u00a0mind filled with all the news reports she&#8217;d seen about patients succumbing to the disease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"54\">She also noticed her mild, cold-like symptoms were evolving into something more strange.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"55\">There was a bitter taste in her mouth. And her appetite disappeared. As someone with diabetes, Pamella kept drinking juice while remaining mostly bedridden, hoping to make sure her sugar levels didn&#8217;t drop since she wasn&#8217;t eating regular meals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"56\">The most frightening symptom, she says, was an all-consuming feeling of lightheadedness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"57\">Around the clock, Pamella had to keep herself upright on her bed, otherwise it would feel like the room was spinning around her.<\/p>\n<div class=\"Ov(h) Trs($transition-readmore) Mah(999999px)\" data-reactid=\"61\">\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"62\">&#8220;All I kept thinking was: &#8216;My god. I believe I&#8217;m too young to die. I have my kids,'&#8221; she recalls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"63\">During those moments of private misery, she also learned some grim news from relatives in New York City, where hospitals were overrun with COVID-19 patients. One older family member in Brooklyn had battled the disease and survived, Pamella found out. A second relative, only in their 30s, wound up being on a ventilator in intensive care and later died.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"64\">Pamella kept reminding herself to stay strong, to have a sip of juice or eat a small snack if her body felt weak \u2014 anything to maintain some sense of control over the virus that made her feel ill &#8220;from head to toe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"65\">Her husband also took time off work to keep an eye on her, and found he couldn&#8217;t sleep while she was holed up in another room. Most nights, he told her later, he&#8217;d quietly open her door while she was sleeping just to make sure their worst fears hadn&#8217;t been realized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"66\">&#8220;Sometimes, I would turn and look,&#8221; Pamella says, &#8220;and he would just ask: &#8216;Are you okay?'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 1em;\" data-reactid=\"67\"><strong>17 residents have died at Rekai Centre<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"68\">While Pamella was ill at home, the situation at the Rekai Centre at Sherbourne Place was deteriorating rapidly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"69\">The novel coronavirus spread throughout the downtown facility, infecting at least nine staff members and 52 residents in just over a month, according to data from the Rekai Centres and Toronto Public Health.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"70\">So far, 17 of those clients have died, including the first ill resident who tested positive on March 27.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"71\">Sue Graham-Nutter, CEO of the Rekai Centres, stresses\u00a0that first resident who showed\u00a0COVID-19 symptoms was immediately placed in isolation, tested,\u00a0and &#8220;monitored around the clock.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"72\">In a statement to CBC News, she also says\u00a0all staff wear full personal protect equipment while caring for residents who have tested positive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"73\">Since mid-March, Graham-Nutter adds, &#8220;only one resident&#8221; has left the facility, and that trip was for &#8220;critical medical appointments.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"canvas-image Mx(a) canvas-atom My(24px) My(20px)--sm Ta(c)\" data-type=\"image\" data-reactid=\"74\">\n<div class=\"Maw(100%) Pos(r) D(ib) Cur(p)\" data-reactid=\"77\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"Trsdu(.42s) Maw(100%)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/x8B_0IhG_aIhfOB.VeX.kQ--~A\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cbc.ca\/112cb95aadd9f2922cb84b249435e225\" alt=\"Jon Castell\/CBC News\" width=\"502\" height=\"377\" data-reactid=\"78\" \/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"94\">When asked about whether the province could have done more earlier to protect front-line workers, amid concerns over issues like residents going back and forth between facilities, chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams said the\u00a0notion of residents coming back to a home carrying COVID-19 is &#8220;an interesting assertion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"95\">If long-term care residents are having health issues, on-site physicians may need to order tests that can&#8217;t be found in the facility, he noted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"96\">Others stress there are many interconnected issues that\u00a0go\u00a0far beyond any one policy or facility, given the hundreds of outbreaks now reported in long-term care homes and hospital sites across the province.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pandemic planning not &#8216;enacted quickly enough&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"98\">&#8220;Pandemic planning and infection control principles weren&#8217;t enacted quickly enough,&#8221; says Vicki McKenna, provincial president of the Ontario Nurses&#8217; Association.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"99\">Some front-line workers in various hospitals have been urged to ration and re-use personal protective equipment,\u00a0while others working in long-term care have experienced extreme staffing shortages.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, McKenna notes, front-line staff at many care homes <em>without <\/em>outbreaks have <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\">documented some common approaches<\/a><\/span>. Most stopped visitors from entering early on, and reviewed whether residents needed to leave for outside appointments. Many also ordered extra supplies, ensuring they&#8217;d have a stockpile of personal protective gear if things took a turn for the worse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"Ov(h) Trs($transition-readmore) Mah(999999px)\" data-reactid=\"61\">On a broader level, and particularly in the case of privately run homes, she says it&#8217;s crucial that the province starts ramping up inspections to protect not only residents, but the staff struggling to care for them safely.<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"101\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"Trsdu(.42s) Maw(100%)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/mXmS.Rzr8X7qAAxgDyEMjg--~A\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cbc.ca\/1997665ef35d3923521d8958cd555b81\" alt=\"Evan Mitsui\/CBC\" width=\"528\" height=\"352\" data-reactid=\"106\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-mask StretchedBox Fz(15px)\" data-reactid=\"108\">\n<div class=\"StretchedBox Bgc(#000.5) Op(1):h Op(0) Trsdu(.2s)\" data-reactid=\"109\">As <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\">CBC News recently reported<\/a><\/span>, only nine out of 626 homes in Ontario received annual, proactive quality inspections in 2019 \u2014 down from just over half of the province&#8217;s homes the year before, and most of them\u00a0in previous years.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"img-mask StretchedBox Fz(15px)\" data-reactid=\"108\">\n<div class=\"StretchedBox Bgc(#000.5) Op(1):h Op(0) Trsdu(.2s)\" data-reactid=\"109\">\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"123\">Those full inspections need to happen alongside complaint-based checks, McKenna stresses, adding: &#8220;I don&#8217;t think they should be notified in advance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"124\">Amid the ongoing pandemic, other advocates say provincial officials need to mandate universal testing protocols for healthcare workers, and those in their care, to catch cases earlier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"125\">&#8220;Remove the long-term care residents with COVID. Take them to hospital. Protect the people who don&#8217;t have it in those facilities. Test like crazy to make sure other residents and staff are free from the disease,&#8221; stresses Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"126\">&#8220;All health-care workers in hospitals, long-term care, in retirement homes, community care, need to be tested,&#8221; echoes Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coalition, an advocacy group representing dozens of community organizations in support of public healthcare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"127\">Currently, health-care workers are given priority at COVID-19 test\u00a0sites, and the province is pursuing &#8220;proactive surveillance testing&#8221; in long-term care homes, including testing residents and staff without symptoms \u2014 though that directive was not sent from the Ministry of Health until April 21.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"128\">More than 31,900 cumulative tests have been completed in long-term care homes so far,\u00a0with close to 38 per cent\u00a0of the resident population tested, according to the Ministry of Long-Term Care.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8216;Some people have it really bad&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"130\">While officials in the outside world braced for new outbreaks and rising case counts, Pamella slowly began to feel like herself again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"131\">The dizziness faded, and her appetite returned. She even started to experience unusual food cravings, like a sudden desire to munch on pickles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"132\">&#8220;If you&#8217;re pregnant, it&#8217;s not mine!&#8221; her husband joked, a moment of levity like the couple hadn&#8217;t experienced for weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"133\">Fully recovering from COVID-19 took roughly a month for Pamella. Meanwhile, many of her infected colleagues are still enduring the whole terrifying spectrum of symptoms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"134\">&#8220;A lot of the staff members I&#8217;ve been in touch with \u2014 some people have it really bad,&#8221; she says. &#8220;Some people are not able to keep down anything. Vomiting. Body aches.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-reactid=\"134\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"Trsdu(.42s) Maw(100%)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/AZFVEOJrtK.jfyxj6LsUZA--~A\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9ODAw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cbc.ca\/8835c22c7c00db21d539af821272a7cd\" alt=\"Evan Mitsui\/CBC\" width=\"507\" height=\"338\" data-reactid=\"139\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"155\">Standing on her home&#8217;s wraparound porch, the space she&#8217;d come to get a few minutes of fresh air while enduring at-home isolation, Pamella announces with a broad smile that she&#8217;s officially among those who &#8220;conquered&#8221; COVID-19, after recently testing negative twice in a row.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"156\">She&#8217;s now eager to get back to work in the long-term care sector, despite the risks. But she maintains her employer failed to protect front-line workers like her by allowing residents to come and go during the pandemic, potentially carrying back the virus that has since infected dozens of the home&#8217;s\u00a0residents and staff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"157\">&#8220;From the minute this pandemic started&#8230; we should&#8217;ve stopped all the appointments. They&#8217;re not urgent. They&#8217;re not necessary,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"158\">In the future, all health-care facilities and long-term care homes\u00a0need to store ample personal protective gear, isolate infected residents quickly, and put\u00a0stronger plans in place for infection control, whether it&#8217;s for this ongoing pandemic\u00a0or the next flu season, just months down the line, Pamella says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)--sm Mt(0.8em)--sm\" data-reactid=\"159\">&#8220;I want to be a nurse,&#8221; she says. &#8220;But I didn&#8217;t sign up to be a nurse to die.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/im-too-young-die-2-080000056.html\">Click here for original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(May 5, 2020) By: CBC News An Ontario nurse explains how COVID-19 gets into care homes, then hits health-care workers. As the weeks went by in March, and COVID-19 cases in Canada kept ticking upwards, Pamella started to worry about residents coming and going from the long-term care facility where she worked. The registered practical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>An Ontario nurse explains how COVID-19 gets into care homes, then hits health-care workers - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(May 5, 2020) By: CBC News An Ontario nurse explains how COVID-19 gets into care homes, then hits health-care workers. 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