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40 cases in five days at South Okanagan long-term care facility

Staffing levels held despite 13 infected, says IH
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In five days, the cases of COVID-19 at McKinney Place in Oliver have jumped from eight to 40 by Thursday.

There are now 27 residents and 13 staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19 at McKinney long-term care home for a total of 40 cases associated with this outbreak, said IH in its daily media release.

Each resident has an identified family contact; they have all been contacted and kept informed, said IH.

“We thank the primary contacts for keeping the rest of their worried families informed as we support each resident and staff member.”

Primary family contacts are being updated on an ongoing basis regarding the status of their loved one, although they will be notified immediately if their family member’s condition changes.

IH told the Western News that despite 13 staff testing positive and now at home self-isolating, there is sufficient staff in place to care for the residents.

“Interior Health is working with the staff and administration at McKinney to ensure residents’ care and staffing levels are maintained,” said a spokesperson for Interior Health.

On top of testing and cleaning, staff are only allowed to work at one site as per new provincial requirements.

“Medical health officers closely monitor the situation, supported by teams from infection control, clinical operations, licensing, public health and epidemiology. Additional testing and focus on ensuring staff resources are in place.”

McKinney Place is attached to the South Okanagan Hospital and has 61 long-term care residents.

READ MORE: 82 new cases today

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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