COVID-19 screening for employees and visiting caregivers continues at the Prescott and Russell Residence in Hawkesbury.

According to the minutes of the April 29 United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) Home Committee meeting, Panbio Antigenic Rapid Tests are mandatory for all employees and caregivers. Any caregiver who visits the facility multiple times a week must be tested two to three times per week.

Part-time employees who work less than 32 hours per week must be tested once a week and employees who work more than 32 hours per week must be tested two to three times per week.

If an employee or caregiver tests positive, they must leave the Residence immediately and make an appointment for further testing.

The Ontario government has lifted the ban on long-term care facility employees from working at more than one facility, but only if the employee working at more than one facility has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Residents who have not yet received both doses no longer must spend 14 days in isolation upon admittance to the Prescott and Russell Residence. However, not all employees at the residence have as yet received both doses, so newly arrived residents are being kept in isolation as a precaution.

Emergency day care

According to the UCPR Department of Social Services, 19 emergency day care centres have been operating across the UCPR to accommodate the needs of essential workers and their families due to in-classroom learning being suspended at all schools. All emergency daycare centres must be approved by the UCPR and the Ministry of Education. As of April 28, 265 children per day were being served by emergency daycare centres across the UCPR.

Relief fund

The UCPR has received $2,700,000 from the provincial Social Services Relief Fund. The funds are to be distributed to eligible community organizations which request them, and the application must be related to consequences resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. As of April 28, $965,000 had been distributed. From the funds, the UCPR also allocated an amount of $1,000 per subsidized bed in various residential care facilities.