TIMMINS --
The outbreak at Extendicare Kapuskasing stabilized Tuesday, with no new cases beyond the 32 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents and 13 cases among employees.
The Timmins and District Hospital sent some of its staff to help with the situation and will be working with Extendicare to conduct a thorough infection control assessment.
Of the 16 COVID-19-related deaths to date in the Porcupine Health Unit area, seven are linked to the outbreak at Kapuskasing Extendicare.
Requests for interviews from Extendicare, Timmins and District Hospital and the Porcupine Health Unit, were denied.
But Mushkegowuk-James Bay MPP Guy Bourgouin said the town of 9,000 people is finding the outbreak at the facility concerning, where, he said, there are 49 residents.
“The atmosphere is difficult because some of our friends are in there; some of our grandparents; some of our relatives are in there," Bourgouin said. "Like I said, it’s a tight-knit community … We need to do everything possible to give them the help, the moral support. You know, these frontline workers are heroes and staff in there are doing their best.”
Bourgouin is asking everyone to follow public health safety rules to help keep the virus from spreading.
