A shocking new statistic underscores the extent of the COVID-19 related devastation on our long term care homes.

According to the LTC COVID Working Group, nursing home deaths account for more than 66-percent of all of the virus related fatalities in Canada.

And, if you add the toll from retirement homes and other settings, the percentage rises to over 78 percent.

Leading geriatrician Dr. Samir Sinha tells Zoomer Radio News, this compares very unfavourably with many other western countries.

“It shows that Canada currently has the dubious honour out of fourteen countries of having the highest death rates in long term care in the world,” Sinha explained, “And this is where we’ve seen the highest proportion of our deaths being in long term care homes.”

The COVID-19 death rate in long-term care homes alone, is a shocking 25 percent.