Ministry of Health COVID-19 Guidance Update
The Ministry of Health has released a new iteration of their COVID-19 Guidance: Long-Term Care Homes, Retirement Homes, and other Congregate Living Settings for Public Health Units document. As per the Chief Medical Officer of Health’s (CMOH) memo from June 10, 2022, and requirements under the Retirement Homes Act, retirement homes must follow the recommendations outlined in the updated document.
The new iteration is effective immediately and includes the following changes:
- Changes the definition of confirmed outbreak to 2 or more connected resident cases in a 7-day period. Changes the definition of when an outbreak is declared over to 7 days after the last case is identified.
- Clarifies that close contacts who are not roommates and cannot maintain masking for 7 days from last exposure should avoid dining and group activities.
- Clarifies that residents in outbreak areas should be cohorted separately from non-exposed residents.
- Clarifies PHU discretion to pause communal dining and activities in a home-wide outbreak, based on severity and risk of transmission.
- Adds details regarding management of influenza cases.
Should you have any questions, please contact RHRA at info@rhra.ca or MSAA at RHInquiries@ontario.ca.