There is a damning Ministry of Long Term Care inspection report conducted at Roberta Place in Barrie, where almost all of the 127 residents and 84 staff members have contracted COVID-19 after an outbreak began January 8th. Forty residents have since died with the virus.

As flagged by Long Term Care Advocate Dr. Vivian Stamatopolous, the inspection was carried out on January 12th and 13th and filed on January 18th and concludes the licensee of Roberta Place failed to ensure the home was a safe and secure environment for the residents.

The report cites, among other violations, that residents who had been confirmed positive for COVID-19 were sharing rooms with residents not confirmed to have the virus.

As well, an Inspector witnessed staff members providing care to both residents with COVID-19 and residents not confirmed to have contracted the virus.

Last week, public health experts confirmed a new, more easily transmissible variant of COVID-19 first identified in the United Kingdom had surfaced at Roberta Place.

Roberta Place is operated by Jarlette Health Services.

There are currently 255 Ontario nursing homes in COVID 19 outbreaks. More than 1500 residents have died with the virus since mid-September, in addition to the 1,817 residents who died in the first wave.

Nearly 6,100 people have signed a petition by the Zoomers’ Group CARP calling on Premier Doug Ford to fire his long term care minister. Add your voice by clicking here.