On December 14, 2021, Ontario introduced temporary public health measures applicable to long-term care and retirement homes. These measures aim to protect the health and safety of residents, staff, and caregivers in these settings against the spread of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. We have summarized these measures below.
Long-Term Care Homes
The following measures are currently in effect for long-term care homes:
Vaccination Requirements
- All general visitors to a long-term care home will need to be fully vaccinated prior to entry.
- Caregivers must be fully vaccinated unless they have a valid medical exemption or are attending to a resident in a palliative end-of-life circumstance. Caregivers are required to have their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by December 20, 2021, and must have all required doses by February 21, 2022 to be considered fully vaccinated. In the interim, designated caregivers who are not fully vaccinated would need to restrict their visit to the resident’s room.
Testing Requirements
- All visitors and support workers visiting a long-term care home, regardless of vaccination status, must show that they have received a negative result from an antigen test taken on the day of the visit or provide proof that they received a negative result from an antigen test taken on the previous day.
Infection Prevention and Control
- All long-term care homes are directed to increase audits of infection prevention and control (“IPAC”) practices.
- The Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 requires that every long-term care home has an IPAC program which core functions are to promptly detect signs and symptoms of infection in residents through daily monitoring activities, and to ensure measures are in place to prevent the transmission of infections.
Capacity Limits for Residents and Visitors
- Indoor visits are limited to a maximum of two people per resident at a time.
- Outdoor visits are limited to a maximum total of four people per resident at a time.
- In addition to the cohorting of residents during meal times, residents will be cohorted for high-risk activities such as singing and dancing, with large social activities being discouraged.
Restrictions on Social Outings
- Social day trips for residents will be limited to only those residents who are fully vaccinated, and residents who leave the home for social reasons must be actively screened upon their return to the home.
- If a resident had a known exposure to a COVID-19 case, they must isolate and complete PCR testing.
- All residents, regardless of vaccination status, may continue to leave the home for essential reasons such as medical appointments.
- Overnight absences for social purposes will be suspended for residents, regardless of their vaccination status.
Retirement Homes
The following measures are currently in effect for retirement homes:
Testing Requirements
- All staff, volunteers, contractors, and essential caregivers must undergo rapid antigen testing twice a week prior to their entry into a home, regardless of their vaccination status.
- General visitors and support workers entering a retirement home must undergo rapid antigen testing, regardless of their vaccination status.
- Residents will be subject to additional testing and isolation requirements upon their return from an overnight absence.
Vaccination Recommendations
- Retirement homes are strongly encouraged to restrict general visitors to only those who are fully vaccinated, and implement additional requirements for essential and general visitors who are not fully vaccinated prior to their entry into the home.
Infection Prevention and Control
- All retirement homes are directed to increase audits of infection prevention and control (“IPAC”) practices.
Capacity Limits
- All retirement homes will be subject to capacity limits on the number of visitors and group sizes for social activities and events.
We will continue to monitor for any updates regarding COVID-19 public health measures, and will promptly post about any developments that are relevant to employers.
This blog is provided as an information service and summary of workplace legal issues.
This information is not intended as legal advice.