Canada: aged care residents now account for 82% of all COVID-19 deaths – shared rooms to blame?

The poll that no country wants to top.

The latest data shows that as of 6 May 6, 3,436 residents and six staff members of long-term care settings had died of COVID-19 – representing 82% of the 4,167 deaths reported.

The fatality rate among Canada’s care homes is around 26 to 29% – around 10 to 15% higher than the global case fatality rate among people over the age of 80.

Why would this be the case?

The researchers say a number of factors may contributed to the higher-than-average death toll, including infection control procedures, adequate staffing, staff members working between multiple sites, and access to PPE and training for staff in how to use it.

The large number of shared rooms has also been pointed to as a possible cause.

“Please consider volumes of multi occupancy rooms, on two visits to a series of Canadian Care Homes I was struck by the volume of multi-occupancy rooms, four to a room being a common occurrence even in new builds visited,” a comment on the report stated.