The COVID-19 outbreak, declared in late December at The Waterford in Tsawwassen, has been declared over.
“We are pleased to announce that Thursday's retesting of negative residents and staff revealed no new cases of COVID-19, and as a result, Fraser Health has declared the outbreak over,” said Janice Miller, Manager, Marketing and Community Relations with Bria Communities who manages The Waterford. “Over the next number of days, life at The Waterford will begin to slowly return to the way it was before the outbreak.”
Miller said self-isolation is over for all residents, the dining room will be open with social distancing measures in place, housekeeping will resume, small group recreation activities will resume with an emphasis on wearing masks, social distancing, and hand sanitizing for those involved.
“Residents who have had COVID-19 have some level of immunity to the virus, however, residents who have not, are still at risk. With this in mind, we continue to strongly encourage all residents to abide by the current province-wide health orders, to wear a mask while in common areas, maintain six feet of social distance and practice good hand hygiene,” added Miller. “Residents with a social 'bubble' inside The Waterford are asked to limit interactions with those outside their bubble as per the provincial health orders.”
Miller said Bria Communities has no specific news on when residents will be vaccinated, but are encouraged by the provincial government’s announcement that they will prioritize vaccinating seniors over the age of 80 in late February.
“Once again, we want to note that we are especially thankful to our staff team for their calm and diligent response during this outbreak,” she said. “Their consistency brought peace of mind to residents and their family members alike during a very stressful time. They are truly health care heroes who wear PPE instead of capes and have made an enormous difference in the lives of each resident over the past three weeks.”
Waterford general manager Matthew Jackson also wanted to share his thanks to all the staff, residents and families who were impacted by the outbreak.
“On Dec. 26 I was notified about our first ever COVID-19 case at The Waterford. This single case unfortunately was just the beginning as cases quickly grew to 60 resident and seven staff,” said Jackson. “Through the hard work, dedication and countless adjustments we made to combat the spread, Waterford staff and residents were able to stop virus transmission in a remarkable way. Many outbreak's last for months and we should all be proud of what we have accomplished over the last four weeks.
“The support from resident's families, Century Group, the Tsawwassen community, Tanya Snow, and the entire Bria team has been amazing and just goes to show how proudly connected The Waterford is to everyone.”
