VANCOUVER -- For the first time in the pandemic, the B.C. government has released a comprehensive list of care home outbreaks detailing the number of cases and fatalities suffered at each location.
That includes the 51 long-term care homes and assisted-living facilities currently battling COVID-19 outbreaks, several of which are among the deadliest and most widespread recorded so far.
"What people will be able to see, by care home, is the size of the outbreak, the number of residents, the number of staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 and the number of people who have passed away in that care home," B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said Thursday.
The numbers, which include cases and deaths as of 10 a.m. Wednesday, confirm the ongoing outbreak at Little Mountain Place has spread to 169 people and claimed 41 lives.
That's more fatalities than any previous care home outbreak in B.C., and more than double the 20 deaths recorded during the province's first such outbreak at Lynn Valley Lodge, part of Lynn Valley Care Home, which began in early March.
The current outbreak at Agecare Harmony Court Care Centre has killed 29 residents and spread to 118 residents and staff. Tabor Home, Capilano Care Centre and German Canadian Benevolent Society have lost 26, 24 and 23 lives, respectively, in their ongoing outbreaks.
"The losses have been terrible for families and for friends and for caregivers and for everyone in long-term care," Dix said, addressing the full scope of the data.
"It is a subject of continuing focus and concern to limit the size of those outbreaks and also it has been the focus of our effort to provide vaccination to those care homes."
Previously, case and fatality numbers from care homes were reported sporadically, sometimes through provincial or local health officials and sometimes from the facilities themselves.
Going forward, Dix said, the comprehensive data will be updated weekly and released through the B.C. Centre for Disease Control website on Thursdays.
The BCCDC will also be providing a weekly report on the province's vaccination program, which Dix noted has so far been largely focused on immunizing seniors and staff in care homes.
"All of these numbers show why we need to have that focus right now," he added.
Scroll down for the full data set on outbreaks in long-term care homes and assisted-living facilities.
