Grand Bay-Westfield special care home residents relocated amid COVID-19 outbreak

The residents of a Grand Bay-Westfield special care home where a COVID-19 outbreak has been declared are doing well, facility staff say.

New Brunswick’s Department of Health declared the outbreak at Murray Street Lodge in a release Wednesday, stating that the Provincial Rapid Outbreak Management Team (PROMT) has been sent for support.

Read more:
New Brunswick records new death and 7 new cases of COVID-19

Murray Street Lodge is licensed for up to 13 residents, but none are actually at the facility Thursday.

“In order to isolate properly, sometimes if you have a smaller facility it’s impossible,” says Jan Seely, president of New Brunswick’s Special Care Home Association.

“So they’ve all been moved to a new location and are being treated with clinicians and being taken care of with the staff from Murray Street.

“Everybody is there.”

Seely herself used to own Murray Street Lodge before her daughter, Heather Perrin, bought it seven years ago.

Yesterday, Public Health said the Provincial Rapid Outbreak Management Team has been sent here for support, as well as to another home in Grand Falls. pic.twitter.com/1YfmI6ir57

— Travis Fortnum (@travisfortnum) April 22, 2021

Seely isn’t able to confirm how many residents have tested positive so far, nor how severe any symptoms are – but did confirm this is the first time COVID-19 has gotten into the facility.

“There’s been full training of PPE (personal protective equipment) use, all training of COVID drills,” Seely says. “Murray Street is up on all of that.”

Read more:
N.S. has closed its border to N.B. for non-essential travel. Here’s what that looks like

She says they expect to get test results back Thursday after all residents and staff were swabbed.

“As we’ve learned from previous outbreaks, these aren’t a sprint. They’re often a marathon,” says Seely.

“People will be monitored and tested on a regular basis as per the protocol of the PROMT team.”

Prior outbreaks at other such facilities weren’t declared over until 14 days after all residents tested negative.

Seely is not sure if any Murray Street Lodge residents will be allowed to go back until that point.