RENFREW COUNTY (Pembroke) — The staff at Renfrew County and District Health Unit (RCDHU) have been working hard in response to the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) requirement to complete COVID-19 testing for all staff and residents in long term care homes, retirement homes and operating licensed child care centres. On May 1, the MoH announced public health units were to coordinate this testing within their jurisdiction.
“When it comes to results, staff at RCDHU have demonstrated time and again that they have been working beyond the call of duty. The same can be enthusiastically said of all our partners. Together with support from the public we have an enviable record of keeping the virus at bay,” stated Dr. Robert Cushman, local Medical Officer of Health. “Thank you and keep up the good fight.”
As of May 8, five of the nine long-term care homes in Renfrew County and District have completed the required testing. This meets the 50 per cent completion target for May 8. The remaining four long-term care homes are either currently conducting testing or are scheduled to complete testing next week. Eight of the 12 retirement homes have already completed the testing, and the
remaining homes are scheduled for next week. Both operating licensed child care centres have completed their testing, exceeding the target by a week.
RCDHU’s Public Health Inspectors and Public Health Nurses, along with local and regional partners, are working with all long-term care homes and retirement homes to review the infection prevention and control measures that are currently in place. This work is to guide prevention measures and improve management of a potential COVID19 outbreak. All inspections are scheduled to be completed by May 15. Renfrew County and District Health Unit said they would like to acknowledge and thank the staff in long-term care homes, retirement homes, Renfrew County Community Paramedics, Child’s Paradise Day Care Centre, and Children’s Garden Nursery School for their support with achieving these results.
In addition to public health nurses and public health inspectors, the Health Unit COVID-19 Response Team includes clerical staff, health promoters, dental hygienists, home visitors, and the public health dietitian as well as corporate services and management staff. The dedicated staff have been responding to the influx of COVID-19 calls which is in excess of 4,700 to date; assessing and referring people for testing, contacting clients with test results; monitoring clients who test positive; completing contact tracing to track the spread; collecting and assessing COVID-19 data; keeping the community informed and connecting individuals in need to support services. For more information, visit RCDHU’s website at www.rcdhu.com/novelcoronavirus-covid-19-2.
