It’s been over a month since the onset of symptoms in the last confirmed COVID-19 case at Langley Lodge were reported, meaning the deadly outbreak at the Langley City long-term care home is officially over.
The announcement was made by Fraser Health and confirmed by the Lodge’s chief executive officer Debra Hauptman this afternoon (Friday).
There have been no new cases since June 5, and following all the other required safety and prevention protocols since then, the province’s most deadly care home outbreak has been declared over at Langley Lodge.
Langley Lodge is a contracted long-term care facility operated by Langley Care Society, with about 140 residents and 150 staff.
It was hit with the first outbreak at the end of March, when a staff member was diagnosed. That outbreak was declared over on April 23.
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This latest outbreaks in the 204th Street facility was reported on April 28, during which 51 residents were diagnosed with COVID. Two dozen died, while 27 residents recovered. Since then, however, one of the patients who survived the virus has also succumbed to advanced dementia.
“With the implementation of comprehensive strategies to prevent and respond to COVID-19 in care facilities, there are no longer any COVID-19 cases at this site,” the health authority shared in a statement.
To support this contracted service provider, Fraser Health took a number of actions during the outbreak.
With the support of a rapid response team at the site, Fraser Health implemented enhanced control measures, such as:
· Allowing only essential visitors
· Restricting staff and resident movement in the facility
· Enhancing cleaning and infection control measures
· Communicating with patients, residents, staff and families to address questions and advise on next steps
· Providing twice a day screening of all staff and residents for COVID-19 symptoms.
Additionally, due to a number of complex factors contributing to this outbreak and a climbing death toll, Fraser Health appointed its own director of pandemic response to provide oversight of COVID-19 response at Langley Lodge.
“We worked very closely with Langley Lodge to further support the facility leadership and staff,” the health authority said.
In addition to the COVID-19 outbreak control measures, they deployed an ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) machine to the site with infection control specialists. Additional nurses and care staff were also deployed to ensure resident care needs continued to be met.
Results paid off with today’s declaration.
Hauptman said there will be an ongoing emphasis on hygiene and monitoring, and noted that the facility will continue to follow all the standard protocols for COVID-19 prevention.
Earlier this week, the Lodge, along with other long-term care home facilities around the province were informed that limited visitation will be permitted. But Hauptman said the first priority was getting through the outbreak classification before turning attentions to establishing a safety plan for future visitations. That, she said, will come in the days to come.
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