UPDATED at 6:45 p.m. on 05/11/2020

On Monday, May 11, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) announced that an eighth death from COVID-19 has occurred at a long-term care facility in its jurisdiction.

All eight COVID-19 deaths within the EOHU territory have occurred at the Pinecrest Nursing Home in Plantagenet.

On Monday afternoon, EOHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said that the staff at Pinecrest and the families of the residents are emotionally distraught about what is happening at the facility.

“This is not a very good situation,” he said.

As of May 11, 32 residents and seven employees at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Plantagenet had COVID-19.

On the weekend, a spreadsheet reportedly from a provincial database indicated that two of the Pinecrest deaths were retroactively dated to March 26.  On Monday, Roumeliotis clearly stated that the date was an error.

The EOHU also announced on Monday that there is a COVID-19 outbreak at the St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre (Quinn House) in Cornwall after one staff member tested positive.

A second, smaller COVID-19 oubreak is at Woodland Villa long-term care facility in Long Sault, near Cornwall.  Initially, two residents tested positive but one of the results was later declared to be a false positive.  However, Roumeliotis said the EOHU is treating the case as though it was positive anyway.

There were 47 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities throughout the EOHU’s jurisdiction on May 11.

All residents and employees of long-term care facilities within the EOHU territory have now been tested for COVID-19.  Roumeliotis said that he is awaiting guidelines from the Ontario Ministry of Health about how to proceed with testing at retirement homes throughout the region.

EOHU cases

On Monday, May 11, there were a total of 132 confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the jurisdiction of the EOHU.  That total was an increase from 130 confirmed cases on May 11.  One of the new cases was in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and the other new case was in the City of Cornwall.  However, the 132 confirmed cases included 71 resolved cases, so the number of active cases in the EOHU territory was 61.

Out of the 61 active confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the EOHU territory on Monday, there were 54 active cases among residents of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell and 42 resolved cases.  On Monday, there were six active cases in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry and 15 resolved cases.  In the City of Cornwall, there were 14 resolved cases and one active case as of Monday.

Among the active cases within the EOHU territory on Monday, two patients were in hospital, and two of those patients were in intensive care.  Roumeliotis said that a third patient in hospital has been released and sent home.

Testing

As of Monday, May 1, 3,177 people had been tested for COVID-19 at the EOHU’s five testing and assessment centres.  In Hawkesbury, 700 people had been tested, and 553 people had been tested at the drive-through centre in Casselman.  At the appointment-only centre in Rockland, 357 people had been tested.  In Cornwall, 842 tests had been done, and 345 COVID-19 tests had been done in Winchester as of Monday.

In addition to the tests done at the EOHU centres, paramedics from the United Counties of Prescott and Russell had tested 45 people, and Cornwall-SD & G paramedics had tested 82 people at their homes for COVID-19 as of May 11.

The testing figures for the EOHU centres and home tests by paramedics do not include the tests done of residents and staff at long-term care facilities, or at local hospitals.

On Monday, Roumeliotis said “stay tuned” for details about how COVID-19 testing could soon be expanded to include all members of the general public who are symptomatic.

Ontario figures

There were 20,546 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the province of Ontario on Monday, May 11.  That total was a 1.5 per cent increase from 20,238 confirmed cases on Sunday, May 10.  Out of the total number of confirmed cases on May 11, 15,131, or 73.6 per cent of the 20,546 cases were listed by the ministry as resolved.

Across Ontario on May 11, there were 1,027 COVID-19 patients in hospital, which was an increase from 961 patients on May 10.  Out of that number, 194 patients were in intensive care and 147 patients were on ventilators.

As of Monday, there had been 1,669 deaths due to COVID-19 across Ontario, which was an increase from 1,634 deaths on Sunday.

COVID-19 cases within EOHU jurisdiction for Monday, May 11, 2020

Map: Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

To view the complete EOHU daily update for May 11, 2020, click here: