DAN CEARNS The Standard
KAWARTHA LAKES: The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPRD) has confirmed seven residents of a nursing home in Bobcaygeon have died due to a COVID-19 outbreak. The residents were from Pinecrest Nursing Home. Last week, the health unit informed the public that three residents of the nursing home in Bobcaygeon had tested positive for COVID-19. The outbreak was earlier declared, on Wednesday, March 18th. “In following our provincial outbreak guidelines, we did not do any additional tests on residents as we already had confirmation the virus was in the home,” Dr. Lynn Noseworthy, Medical Officer of Health for the HKPR District Health Unit explained, in a press release. Late last week, they confirmed 14 staff members at the nursing home to be COVID-19 positive. “This is truly a horrible time for the families and friends of the residents, as well as our staff,” Mary Carr, Administrator of Pinecrest Nursing Home, said in a press release. “We have a number of medically fragile and vulnerable people living in our home; our residents are like family to our staff. Our sympathies go out to all of the families and friends of the people we have lost.” Though Ms. Carr later added there “could be additional deaths given the fragility of some of the residents.” The outbreak at the Kawartha Lakes nursing home is considered the “largest outbreak in the province” according to Dr. Noseworthy. As of press time, HKPRD has reported 9 confirmed deaths and 33 cases of the coronavirus in the City of Kawartha Lakes. The outbreak at Pinecrest is the only outbreak reported in the Kawartha Lakes.