At the time of this writing, British Columbia currently has 90 new cases of COVID-19, 13 persons in hospital due to COVID-19, and five people total in ICU across the province due to COVID-19. Alberta currently has 43 of which 9 are currently in ICU. How many new cases are in Alberta is unclear, as the data is represented differently for Alberta than British Columbia.

Western Canada is still doing well compared to many other places in the world. Here, below, is a brief breakdown of how this currently affects those in nursing homes and senior communities.

Alberta

The Alberta government published a multi-page document that was updated in mid-August, 2020. In this document, they go through all steps the currently being taken and recommended for seniors in any kind of community setting. Here, are some of the important points:

1. Thorough hand-washing for at least 20 seconds for residents, employees, and anyone visiting residents.


2. Making hand sanitizer readily available to everyone.


3. No-contact drop-offs where possible.


4. N95 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare works and cloth masks for everyone else involved.


5. That the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, and procedures for seniors and interacting with them will evolve as well.

British Columbia

In addition to what is listed above for Alberta, BC is still restricting indoor visitation to one person or family member. There are also strict provincial rules regarding employees working at only one senior community location at a time.

There has been a recent uptick in BC COVID-19 active cases, most of which are in the Vancouver area, but so far hospitalization rates have remained flat. There are also large fines in BC for gatherings of more than 50 people or where adults congregating in large groups refuse to disperse. Also, BC will implement a gradual restart to the new public school year to give students and staff time to adjust to all the new health and safety measures.

Conclusion

The staff of H&H Total Care Services is committed to doing the very best that we can to protect our vulnerable residents from COVID-19 as much as we are able.

H&H Total Care Services is a privately held company based in Surrey, BC, that is a leader in providing senior and young adult residential care services. With communities in both British Columbia and Alberta, H&H Total Care Services offers a wide range of compassionate care services from independent living to residential complex care.