COVID-19 outbreak ends at Centre d'accueil Champlain

The Centre d'accueil Champlain long-term care home. located on Perrier Avenue in Ottawa. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)

OTTAWA -

The City of Ottawa says a COVID-19 outbreak has officially come to an end at a city-run long-term care home.

In a memo Tuesday afternoon, Donna Gray, the city's general manager of community and social services, said Ottawa Public Health confirmed an end to the outbreak at the Centre d’accueil Champlain because there had been no new cases at the home for 14 days.

"There are currently no outbreaks at any of the four City of Ottawa homes. The homes continue to test all staff and visitors according to public health guidance," Gray said.

The outbreak, which was first declared May 19, affected 10 residents and 32 staff members. One resident of the home died.

Vaccination against COVID-19 was high among residents, but lagged among staff, with 71 per cent of employees having had at least one dose before the outbreak began. That figure climbed to 77 per cent in June but remained the lowest among the four city-run long-term care homes. A memo in early June said Carleton Lodge had an uptake rate of 83 per cent, and Garry J. Armstrong and Peter D. Clark each had 80 per cent of staff vaccinated with at least one dose.

Gray had confirmed in late May that the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) had been detected in the home and that some of the residents who had tested positive were fully vaccinated.

Ottawa's medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said fully vaccinated people can still be infected by the virus.

"Where we see vaccine failure after the two doses, the most commonly is in people over 80, so it is going to be a more vulnerable population."

In her memo Tuesday, Gray thanked staff for their dedication to residents during the outbreak.

"I would like to acknowledge the outstanding dedication of our long-term care staff in supporting the residents and each other in the City homes during this difficult period," she said.

Ottawa Public Health is reporting five additional active COVID-19 outbreaks in Ottawa: one at a local shelter, two at local daycares, one at a hotel or bed and breakfast, and one at a retail store, but it can take a day or two before an outbreak is cleared from the OPH dashboard after being declared over.