Long-term care outbreaks are rising, and provinces have different strategies for keeping COVID-19 out

As the fourth wave continues across Canada and community spread climbs, outbreaks are also on the rise inside Canada’s long-term care homes, leading experts to stress the importance of staff being vaccinated — an issue which varies province to province.

While many provinces are introducing vaccine mandates for health-care workers and other staff at long-term care homes, other regions are allowing unvaccinated workers to continue working if they get tested regularly, or, in Ontario’s case, provide proof that they’ve watched an educational video.

Ontario’s Long-term Care Minister Rod Phillips said in a news conference Thursday that the province will soon be publicizing the vaccination rates in nursing homes across Ontario, but stopped short of promising a vaccine mandate for workers.

“It reminds us how vulnerable this population remains, because while we'll say, 'wow, you know, almost a hundred per cent of long-term care residents across Canada are vaccinated,’ we're having outbreaks in these homes,” Dr. Samir Sinha, an expert in geriatrics, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.

“These residents are still getting sick, they’re still dying.”