38 mostly Chinese residents at a nursing home in Vancouver have died of COVID-19 since November 22, reports News 1130. Information about the casualties at Little Mountain Place comes from family members who discussed the matter with company officials.
News 1130 obtained a video recording of one such meeting which took place on December 21. At that time, the death toll was put at 31.
Little Mountain Place’s executive director Angela Millar confirmed the video had been leaked by family members, but said the information was accurate.
“We’ve had four Zoom meetings, so I don’t know which one you’re referring to, but at the time that we gave the information it was accurate,” she told the South China Morning Post.
Health officials refused to confirm the totals.
“The circumstances of each outbreak – including the number of cases – can evolve rapidly, and it causes unnecessary stress to the families of residents and patients to have information publicly misreported,” said Celso Pereira, of Vancouver Coastal Health told the Morning Post.
Gladys Opeda said officials at Little Mountain Place first told her her 85-year-old grandmother Corazon Pascua tested negative, but then was informed two days later that tests had come back positive. Her grandmother died shortly after.
“How are they testing these residents?” Opeda asked CBC News. “Are they testing them every day? This test isn’t free. They’re pretty expensive.”
The Vancouver Sun reports about one in three of Vancouver’s long term care residents who contracted COVID-19 in 2020 died. The death toll for 2020 stands at 901.
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