HALIFAX -- A long-term care facility in Saint John, N.B. has confirmed a third resident died on Tuesday after testing positive for COVID-19.
Parkland Saint John confirmed the latest death in an email to residents and their families sent late Tuesday evening.
“We have received confirmation from Public Health that the resident who passed late yesterday had a positive test result returned for their last test. They had not tested positive for COVID-19 during previous rounds of testing,” wrote Greta Drapeau, General Manager of Parkland Saint John in an email.
Tuesday's three deaths all involved residents in Lily Court, a neighbourhood for seniors living with Alzheimer's and dementia, at Parkland Saint John's Tucker Hall.
Earlier Tuesday, Parkland confirmed a resident in their 70s and a resident in their 80s died of underlying complications including COVID-19, one in their 70s and one in their 80s.
“This has been a tragic time for everyone at Tucker Hall, especially for the families of those we have lost,” wrote Derek Green, Vice President, New Brunswick Operations in a post to the Shannex website. “We were privileged to be part of their lives. Each of them was a special member of our community and we will feel their loss greatly.”
The email also confirmed three additional cases of COVID-19 among residents at Tucker Hall and one additional employee case, increasing the total number of active cases at the facility to 25, with 14 residents and 11 employees having tested positive.
All residents and employees of Tucker Hall will be retested on Thursday, and will undergo testing twice a week, on Monday’s and Thursday’s.
Drapeau said Parkland staff have been in touch with families of Lily Court residents through phone and Zoom calls.
New Brunswick has now seen a total of 12 COVID-19 related deaths since the pandemic began.
This is a developing story, more to come.
