Grey Bruce public health strives to contain COVID-19 outbreak at rooming house
The Grey Bruce health unit is taking extra measures to keep a COVID-19 outbreak in Hanover's rooming house.
"A number of people who have a certain lifestyle of using drugs, and that brings an extra challenge," said Dr. Ian Arra, Grey Bruce medical officer of health.
An emergency management team is stationed outside the 10th Street facility in downtown Hanover and trailers and a food truck after the health unit declared an outbreak last week.
Public health urges anyone who visited the building recently to get a COVID-19 test and isolate.
Grey Bruce's medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Arra said they recognize some of the residents are vulnerable and have special needs if they must stay home.
"We have been able to successfully ensure that there is enough support for these disadvantaged individuals to go through appropriate isolation to protect the self and the community from potential spread," Arra explained.
Along with food and clothing, residents are being provided with items they might need, including prescription alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, suboxone treatment for opioid addiction and Wi-Fi.
Security is stationed outside the facility 24/7 to ensure the outbreak is contained.
In a release Friday, the health unit stated, "We hope the public will also recognize these needs must be met as part of a comprehensive harm reduction and infectious disease containment strategy."
Several community partners are working together to help provide all of the support needed over the 14-day isolation period.
Sixteen people in the facility have tested positive for COVID-19, with more than 30 individuals considered high-risk contacts.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.