Staff members working at long-term care facilities will be only be able to work at one facility, announced the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).
During a press conference April 21, SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said the new measures – called “staff cohorting” by medical experts – will be put in place as part of their strategy to further ensure minimal spread of COVID-19 among long-term care residents.
“We knew we needed to do this to limit the opportunities for vulnerable people to be exposed to this virus,” Livingstone said.
“The health and safety of our employees is of the utmost importance and keeping the people we serve healthy and safe is paramount,” he added.
Livingston said staff cohorting has been implemented for other outbreaks in the province such as influenza, but never on a provincial level.
“Staff cohorting has never been done on a provincial basis, this will be our first,” said Livingstone.
“With such a large and varied workforce spread over such a sizeable geography and services normally depended on co-ordinating staff between multiple sites, achieving this will be no small feat,” he added.
Livingstone said the SHA is on track to have these measures in place by April 28, along with other measures announced previously which include universal screening and continuous masking across all facilities.
Additionally, Livingstone said the SHA is continuing to expand testing sites, focusing on new testing technologies to enhance contact tracing along with exploring pilot projects that use new technology for temperature screening.
“You can imagine that these are not simple or easy measures. But, these measures are needed and are necessary, we are making every effort to put them in place as soon as possible,” said Livingstone.
Livingstone also said the SHA has been tracking COVID-19 numbers daily and they are optimistic they will remain low.
To date, the province has a total of 320 cases of COVID-19. Of the cases, 64 are considered active, down 10 from the previous day.
Currently, there are five people in hospitals across Saskatchewan with one person being in intensive care.
Of the 320 cases, 35 are health care workers with infections possibly not being related to health care in all instances.
