PLANTAGENET, Ont. – Another four residents at Pinecrest Nursing Home have died from novel coronavirus, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis announced Friday afternoon.
“This is a tragedy. This is very sad. Once the virus gets into these institutions, it’s not a very pleasant experience and my heart goes out to the families and to the other residents of the home,” Roumeliotis said. “I’m very worried about Pinecrest,” Roumeliotis said of the situation at the long term care home. The doctor expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
That brings the number of deaths at the facility to six. There are still 39 positive cases at Pinecrest – 32 residents and seven staff. “We have quite a few showing symptoms.”
“It’s something that we’re keeping an eye on and we’re crossing our fingers and hoping. The death rate in this context is very high so I’m hoping that they survive the odds. It’s really bothered me. This has really affected me. It’s a terrible, terrible situation,” Roumeliotis said.
Roumeliotis says the Hawkesbury hospital is providing on site support, nursing and additional infection control. “A lot of the individuals, unfortunately have dementia, have a lot of other medical conditions. and so they’re a very frail…population.”
The number of COVID-19 cases also jumped by 18 Friday for a total of 130 cases in the region. There are 94 in Prescott-Russell (33 resolved), 22 in SD&G (14 resolved) and 14 in Cornwall (14 resolved).
Roumeliotis noted that the latest big increases are in institutions and are not in the community but the situation is still “sad.”
The number of tests across the region jumped by another 102 on Friday to 3,107. The breakdown of tests by assessment centers and paramedics are: Hawkesbury 688; Cornwall 824; Winchester 345; Casselman 535; Rockland 342; Prescott-Russell EMS 46; SD&G EMS 76.