Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 17, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A2 A 2 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM VOL 150 NO 39 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2020 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published seven days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 Publisher / BOB COX Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an in- dependent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. 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GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada CIRCULATION INQUIRIES MISSING OR INCOMPLETE PAPER? Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 INOCULATIONS ? FROM A1 OUTBREAKS ? FROM A1NURSE ? FROM A1 JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Dr. Brian Penner, internal medicine, Health Sciences Centre, receives the first COVID-19 inoculation in Manitoba from LoriAnn Laramee, public health nurse, at HSC Wednesday. The province reported 292 new cases of COV- ID-19. Daily counts have gone down slightly since the government brought in tighter restrictions on public gatherings and businesses in November. The five-day test positivity rate for the province was 13.6 per cent. Demands on the health-care system remain high. There were 328 people in hospital, with 46 in intensive care. Roussin reminded people that only mem- bers of the same house- hold are to be together in their home during the holidays. Dr. Jazz Atwal, act- ing deputy chief public health officer, reflected on the arrival of the vaccine after months of people's lives being upended. "We're in an interest- ing time right now. In less than a year, we've had a pandemic start (and) we've had the first vaccinations enter peo- ple's arms. I think it's a surreal moment, but we are at a point where it's still critical." - The Canadian Press After that, she said, the process was straightforward. They asked when she wanted to come in; she decided that, since she was due to work a shift Tuesday, she'd take a day to relax and get the shot Thursday morning at the province's first immunization clinic at the University of Manitoba's Ban- natyne campus, next to HSC. When Ferguson told her family the big news, some of her grandchildren started cheering. "I think we're all relieved," said her daughter, Carrie Ferguson, who lives just north of Toronto. When Ferguson declared her inten- tion to keep working through the pandemic, her family was "not too thrilled," said Carrie, herself a former nurse. They were worried about the risk; they also knew Ferguson isn't one to stop doing what she loves, especially at a time when all hands are needed on deck. "She stuck to her guns," Carrie said. "She was not going to miss out on this." From the start, working in critical care was Ferguson's passion. As a trainee nurse in 1973, she was asked to pick a unit she'd like to try first. While some of her peers chose the operating room or labour and delivery, she was already drawn to intensive care; after a three-month trial period, she knew she had found her place. "It's the intensity. The pace. The energy that you pour into it," Fergu- son said. "It's very exciting to recover somebody who is literally dying, and they're dying when they get to us. We get a lot of them back, and they do well, and it's just very rewarding." For 47 years, she threw herself into the work. In that time, she earned the respect and affection of her colleagues, some of whom have been there for almost as long as she has. "She's a great person, and a wonderful nurse," said Dr. Dan Roberts, who has been at HSC's ICU since 1981. "She has a great sense of humour and really cares about her patients. She's an excellent advocate." About 10 years ago, Ferguson stepped back from full-time work. But she still kept picking up roughly eight shifts a month, and taking occasional calls to fill in when needed. In recent months, amid the second wave, she felt the pressure and need for vigilance ramp up. "I probably wash my hands 120 times a day," she said. "It's that constant awareness of the environment and being safe in it. It's been very stressful with so many very ill COVID patients coming in, and we can't survive them all. And we see the repetition of that. We just have to be there for each other, and we're doing our best." While Ferguson may be one of the oldest ICU nurses still working on the front lines in Canada, she isn't an anomaly. There are still physicians and nurses who are well into their 60s and 70s, Roberts said, many of whom have kept working on the front lines even as they themselves face the highest risk. Now, with a light on the horizon in the pandemic, Ferguson is looking forward to what's ahead. Last year, she and her 81-year-old partner, Tom Carlyle, got engaged. They were planning a wedding before COVID-19 hit; maybe next year they can finally celebrate it. Her fifth grandchild is due in mid-February, and that was one of the first things she thought about when she booked her vaccine appointment. "That's an amazing part of it," she said. "I thought, 'I'm going to be safe for Catherine and the baby.' I haven't been spending any time with them in the last six weeks. Prior to that we would go for a walk with a mask on. Now we're really keeping our distance, so this would make it a lot safer for me to see them." As for her work life, she's not ready to say. Her partner is considering retiring next year, but she renewed her nursing licence for 2021 and leaves her plans at "we'll see." Sometimes, doctors and other nurses tease her when she comes into work - "Frances, do you not have enough to do?" they'll quip - but there's nowhere she'd rather be. "It's like going home," Ferguson said. "It's doing something that I love, and it's doing it with people I know so well. We're really a team. If you get super busy, you're not on your own. Someone's going to see that you're up to your ears in it, and they're going to come and help. It doesn't feel like work." melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca At Charleswood, one case was detected Nov. 24; by Dec. 15, the outbreak grew to 121 cases. As of Tuesday, at least 137 personal care home staff in Winnipeg had active infec- tions of COVID-19, with more sick and awaiting test results or unable to work due to self- isolation. Previously, Manitoba chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said officials are considering surveillance and asymptomatic testing in vulnerable settings, such as personal care homes, but noth- ing has been decided. To suggest outbreaks in care homes are caused by PPE breaches ignores serious challenges health-care workers have navigated through the pan- demic, Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said. "Care homes across the province have severe short- staffing and workload issues that are compounded by the ad- ditional demands of managing an outbreak situation," Jackson said. "They have been working incredibly long and difficult hours for many months now. In many cases, they are doing so with inadequate or even expired PPE. "With such a high number of outbreaks in the province, many of which have persisted for months on end, it's clear that there is a much larger problem than simple PPE breaches." A spokesman for Health Minister Cameron Friesen said Lynn Stevenson - the former associate deputy minister in the B.C. Ministry of Health hired to investigate the outbreak at Maples care home - is expected to submit a preliminary report this week. The outbreak at Maples, operated by Revera, is the big- gest in the province, topping out at 228 total cases, with 157 resident infections and 52 deaths. According to Revera, there were no active infections among residents, as of Dec. 10. Last month, Friesen said the preliminary findings by Ste- venson would inform immedi- ate action to be taken at Maples and to anticipate issues in the provincial care home system. - with files from Kevin Rollason danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca What is a PPE breach? EXAMPLES of PPE breaches include improper doffing (removal), improper hand hygiene, or issues such as touching the face mask or eye protection while wearing and not cleaning hands, as well as incorrectly wearing a mask, forgetting eye protection, or careless disposal. - source: Shared Health Trust issues A new poll by Probe Research shows more than half of Manitobans do not trust for-profit, private long-term care operators to provide quality care for seniors and the chronically ill. The poll was commissioned by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Manitoba and surveyed 1,000 adults liv- ing in Manitoba between Nov. 24 and Dec. 4. The survey is considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 95 per cent of the time. One-third of respondents said the government or non-profit groups should take over all private care homes in Manitoba. According to the survey, 64 per cent of respondents said they strongly support increasing staffing levels at long- term care homes, even if that means additional spending by government. "CUPE has been calling for increased staffing levels in long-term care homes for years," CUPE Manitoba president Abe Araya said in a statement. "Manitobans understand the critical need to legislate minimum staffing levels so we can get our seniors the care and attention they deserve, now and post-COVID-19." MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Frances Ferguson has worked as an ICU nurse in Winnipeg for more than 40 years. Charleswood Care Centre: 121 Fairview PCH: 100 Golden Links Lodge: 93 Holy Family PCH: 153 Maples LTC: 228 Oakview Place PCH: 73 Park Manor Care Home: 102 Parkview Place LTC: 163 St. Norbert PCH: 113 0 50 100 150 200 250 Nov 09 Nov 23 Dec 07 Dec 21 Total cases among staff and residents. Other personal care home cases shown in grey. Case counts for personal care homes with a surging outbreak Data not available on some days. WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - SOURCE: MANITOBA HEALTH (2020-12-16) A_02_Dec-17-20_FP_01.indd A2 2020-12-16 9:53 PM ;