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Coronavirus

    • N.L. struggling to cope with outbreaks in long-term care homes amid staffing shortages

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    Unions representing health-care workers in Newfoundland and Labrador say a surge in COVID-19 infections in employees and residents of long-term care homes is worsening staffing shortages and impacting the quality of care provided in these facilities.

    Jerry Earle, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE), told CTV's Your Morning on Wednesday that approximately 600 health-care workers, most of them in long-term care, are currently off due to COVID-19.

    Earle said this is having a "significant impact" on the level of care workers are able to provide.

    "Basic personal care [isn't getting done]. We're hearing where people have to try to struggle to make sure residents are fed," Earle said.

    "We were quite fortunate during this pandemic, but this last wave, we have not been," he added.

    Newfoundland and Labrador dropped its last pandemic-related restrictions on March 14, including the mask mandate in public places apart from health-care facilities and schools. Since then, it's seen an uptick in hospitalization numbers due to the more transmissible Omicron sub-variant BA.2.

    However, critics say the province's COVID-19 dashboard doesn't reflect the current situation in long-term care homes. Unlike other provinces, Newfoundland doesn't provide data on COVID-19 cases or deaths in the provinces' assisted living facilities.

    Earle said Newfoundland was experiencing a staffing shortage in long-term care homes before the pandemic. Now, he said the last wave of COVID-19 has only made the situation worse.

    Because of staffing shortages, Earle said it has "unfortunately become the norm" for health-care workers to work consecutive shifts, ranging between 12 and 16 hours, without days off.

    "[It's] not sustainable, not acceptable, and it's the residents of these facilities that are suffering the consequences," he said.

    Earle said he has received calls from workers who are burnt-out and upset that they can no longer deliver a level of care that's necessary for residents in these facilities, many of whom need help eating and bathing.

    "They're there to provide these vital services, these important services, but when you can't provide the basic services on some days, that is extremely concerning," he said.

    While health-care related staffing shortages have been seen across various provinces during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in Ontario and Alberta, Earle said it is "really pronounced" in Newfoundland.

    Earle said officials in the province are making efforts to address staffing shortages in the long term, but said more needs to be done to address the present issue.

    "Right now, we are in a crisis in our health-care system in our province," he said.

    Earle said the first step in doing this is listening to front-line workers and what they need to help ease the burden.

    "The people that know best are those that are delivering these types of services," he said. "They were telling the previous administration and this administration they had insufficient numbers. They need to be listened to.

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