Interior Health has declared an outbreak of COVID-19 at Vernon’s Heritage Square long-term care facility on 27th Street. (kaigo.ca photo)

UPDATE: Vernon senior’s care home COVID-19 outbreak up to 21

Heritage Square cases increase for second day in a row among staff and residents

UPDATE DEC. 31:

Two Vernon care homes experiencing outbreaks of the virus are showing varied results.

Noric House long-term care has remained steady with six cases of COVID-19: five residents and one staff.

Meanwhile cases at Heritage Square have jumped to 21: 13 residents and eight staff.

There have also been exposures at two other local care homes among staff members: The Hamlets and Creekside Living.

READ MORE: Fourth Vernon care home exposed to COVID-19

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ORIGINAL DEC. 30:

The outbreak has grown at one of Vernon’s long-term care homes.

Heritage Square is reporting nine new cases, up from 10 when the 27th Street facility first announced the outbreak Dec. 27.

READ MORE: Vernon care home sees COVID-19 outbreak

Heritage Square was the first care home to report an outbreak of the virus.

Since then, cases have been identified in two other homes: Noric House and The Hamlets.

All individuals in close contact with those infected are in self-isolation and monitoring for symptoms. Families of residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been contacted directly.

Interior Health and the operator will continue to monitor the situation while implementing additional infection control and preventive measures. This includes:

  • Monitoring of all residents for respiratory symptoms and doing COVID-19 testing on anyone with COVID-19 symptoms;
  • Enhanced cleaning protocols and COVID-19 visitor policies.

Heritage Square is a private long-term care and assisted living facility operated by Kaigo. The operator has implemented a temporary stop to all visits across the site as an added precaution.

READ MORE: Third Vernon care home hit with coronavirus


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Vernon Morning Star