Thank you to all who have signed the petition asking our elected officials to Make safe access to Seniors isolating in Long Term Care the Country's TOP priority.  We must keep the conversation going.  Especially now as many believe we will be living with Covid for a year or more.   The curve has flattened across the country, restrictions are being safely released and we are returning to a new normal.  Many businesses are returning back to work in some capacity, provinces are planning for school to safely resume in September, the Federal government has approved the path to having a Hub NHL city in Canada by approving the NHL's proposal of a cohort quarantine. 

It seems all aspects of the economy have a plan to function alongside Covid....... except long term care homes.

This was echoed by CTV News reporter Nicole Bogart in her June 16 article “Advocates demand family caregivers be given access to long-term care homes” when she reported:

• after months of lockdowns, residents who have avoided contracting COVID-19 are still experiencing the toll of the pandemic, experts say, including profound isolation that can result in irreversible physical and cognitive declines.
• Those concerns are even higher for an estimated 80 per cent of long-term care residents who suffer from some form of dementia.”
• CanAge,  Canada's national seniors’ advocacy organization is now lobbying the federal and provincial governments to develop an essential caregivers program that would deem family caregivers essential.
• Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge claims  “We didn’t have a good strategy for how to have a maintained lockdown situation and we should have. And we’re going to need one, because COVID-19 is going to be with us for 18 to 24 months and maybe on an ongoing basis,”
• Nathan Stall, geriatric physician at Mount Sinai Hospital, says family caregivers not only play an essential role in the health system, their direct involvement in care reduces mortality.
• “We don’t want these petty outdoor visits which do nothing to work against the very dangerous harms of isolation among the elderly,” said Dr. Vivian Stamatopoulos, associate teaching professor at Ontario Tech University who specializes in family caregiving.

Each province has handled the crisis differently, with more provinces now allowing visitors at long-term care homes, but those visits are largely restricted to outdoor, physically distanced interactions that experts say are highly restrictive.

Bogart's full article can be found here and at the link below:

Let's consider  Manitoba’s lack of a Pandemic Plan for our beloved seniors in isolation in long term care.  The province is leading the country in its management of Covid cases. They could be a beacon for our beloved seniors isolating in long term care... but, they are prioritizing an economic recovery and have forgotten our most vulnerable population.  

• On May 20th, Manitoba had a pandemic cumulative total of 290 cases, 23 were active and only one was in the hospital.  The province showed some capacity to balance compassion and care and announced residents of personal care homes and announced they would allow up to two visitors at a time, with visits taking place outdoors, visitors to be screened and to wash their hands before entering and to maintain physical distancing while there.
• One month later, on June 19, the entire province added only 19 cases to their cumulative total now at 309 cases, of which 9 are active and 0 patients in the hospital.
• On June 21, Manitoba will enact phase 3.  There is no mention of any release of visitation requirements for long term care.  The province found a way for all bars and restaurants in Manitoba to safely operate at 100% capacity both inside and outside; for professional services – including massage therapy to operate at full capacity, and for Bingo halls to safely open at 50% capacity.  But...the elected officials ignored the mental and physical health of seniors in isolation. 
• What more is needed to resume safe visitation INSIDE long term care homes as we manage a new normal over the next year?  Province-wide there are 9 active cases and 0 patients in the hospital.  Seniors have not had an inside visit from their loved ones in over 100 days!  Surely some smart person can figure a way to safely enact family visitation over the course of this pandemic!

On June 9, 2020 the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) wrote to Hon. Merrilee Fullerton Minister of Long-Term Care requesting family access to elderly residents in Ontario Long Term Care Homes demanding the government lift indefinite confinement of residents to their rooms, and the prohibition on visits from family members such that immediate family members be permitted to once again visit their loved one and provide the basic care and love that every person deserves by virtue of their inherent dignity as a human being.

The JCCF claim their office is inundated stories from people across unable to see their loved ones, and stymied by government officials and government regulations and invite you to submit your personal stories on how isolation has impacted your Loved One in Long Term Care  Email to Info@jccf.ca

Thank you for your support.  Keep the conversation going.   WE MUST KEEP SPEAKING FOR OUR MOST VULNERABLE.  Please sign and share the petition.

Perry Lupyrypa, Daughter of Betty Pratcshler, Resident in a Manitoba Retirement Home (waiting for the ability to give her a hug - inside!!)