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31 die in Vancouver care home catering to Chinese elders, as a COVID-19 tragedy quietly unfolds in the suburbs

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Ian Young, South China Morning Post

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/overseas/01/01/little-mountain-place.jpg"/><figcaption>The Little Mountain Place in East Vancouver, British Columbia. Photo from the residential care&#x27;s website. </figcaption></figure></div><div> </div>The Christmas lights are still twinkling outside Little Mountain Place, a care home that is largely occupied by Chinese Canadian elders, in the suburban Vancouver neighbourhood that is its namesake.But inside, a tragedy of startling speed and ferocity is quietly unfolding, while health authorities refuse to discuss the situation to avoid “unnecessary concern”.In the past six weeks, at least 31 residents have died of Covid-19, representing more than a quarter of the home’s population. At least 82 per cent of the original residents have been infected.It is the deadliest single outbreak in British Columbia and joins a litany of horrific tolls in care homes across Canada since the start of the pandemic.The nature of the disaster at Little Mountain Place has largely gone unreported, thanks in part to the disclosure policies of BC health authorities, who refuse to discuss it beyond confirming that it is taking place.“The circumstances of each outbreak – including the number of cases – can evolve rapidly, and it causes unnecessary stress to the families of residents and patients to have information publicly misreported,” said Celso Pereira, public affairs chief at Vancouver Coastal Health, the authority that oversees the region.But it is only through the family of residents that the scale of the losses at Little Mountain Place, established by a non-profit society in 1983, have become public knowledge.On Christmas Eve, radio station News 1130 reported the leaked contents of a December 21 Zoom call involving Little Mountain Place’s executive director, Angela Millar, and the relatives of residents.Millar reportedly told them that of the home’s 114 occupants, 93 had been infected with Covid-19, 31 had died and 14 had recovered.The virus also spread rapidly among staff; Millar reportedly said that 63 had tested positive – 15 were in home isolation and 48 had since been cleared of the disease, with many back at work.Millar told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday that she could not comment directly on the death toll, but she acknowledged that the recordings of Zoom calls had been leaked by relatives of two residents. (On December 16, CTV News reported that 17 people had died.)Asked if the reported death toll of 31 was accurate, Millar said: “We’ve had four Zoom meetings, so I don’t know which one you’re referring to, but at the time that we gave the information it was accurate.”She declined to share updated information, provided to relatives at a meeting on Tuesday night. The Post has not heard any of the recordings.“We do a Zoom call once a week with families to give them specifics and updates and give them the opportunity to ask questions, and to respond to what we’re doing to address the outbreak,” Millar said, referring the Post to Vancouver Coastal Health for further information.Little was forthcoming. From the street, on a cold and rainy winter’s evening on Wednesday, the only evidence of the outbreak was that most of the home’s windows were ajar. Canada care industry ravagedBy almost any measure, the outbreak at Little Mountain Place has been devastating, but care homes across Canada have been hard hit.Health authorities do not offer a nationwide breakdown, but a running tally by freelance journalist Nora Loreto suggests that about 75 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths in Canada have occurred among people in care facilities.The heaviest tolls are in Quebec and Ontario, where the ravaging of long-term care homes has drawn worldwide attention. But British Columbia has not been spared. On Tuesday, provincial health officer Dr Bonnie Henry reported 56 current outbreaks in BC long-term care homes and a further eight in acute care homes.About two-thirds of BC’s 893 Covid-19 deaths have occurred among care home residents.British Columbia’s care industry had previously been praised by some for its relative success in staving off Covid-19. In a peer-reviewed study comparing pandemic outcomes in long-term care in BC and Ontario in the November 23 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers said that BC had likely benefited from “better coordination between long-term care, public health and hospitals; greater funding of long-term care; more care hours for residents; fewer shared rooms; more non-profit facility ownership; and more comprehensive inspections”.The study cited figures to September 10, that showed there had been 156 Covid-19 deaths in BC care homes, compared to 1,817 in Ontario, with resident mortality rates of 0.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.Since then, though, a second wave of the pandemic has seen cases spike dramatically, and BC’s overall death toll has doubled in the past month. Loreto’s running tally suggests that deaths in BC care homes have more than tripled since September, to 578. (Ontario’s care home death toll is now 2,749.)The worst-hit care home in BC is now Little Mountain Place, where the toll surpasses the 26 who died at Langley Lodge, in the Vancouver satellite of Langley. Fifty-one of about 140 residents of Langley Lodge contracted the disease.The outbreak at Little Mountain Place is far more intense.Vancouver Coastal Health declined a request for an interview, or to release details of the outbreak, saying in a statement that “[to] avoid causing unnecessary concern, and out of respect for the privacy of residents and their families, we do not disclose specific numbers for active outbreaks”. Pereira instead directed the Post to an “outbreak bulletin”. The only information it contains about the Little Mountain outbreak is the date that it began – November 22 – and that it is continuing.The facility is operated by Little Mountain Residential Care and Housing Society. The society also runs two sister facilities: Little Mountain Court, an independent housing facility for seniors and people with disabilities; and Adanac Park Lodge, for younger adults with health and cognitive needs. The society has annual expenses of C$15.9 million (US$12.4 million), according to its 2019 budget, with C$13.2 million covered by Vancouver Coastal Health; most of the shortfall was met by user fees.A ‘large’ percentage of Asian residentsLittle Mountain Place has a diverse population but says that a “large percentage” of its residents are of Asian descent though it does not provide a breakdown. Before the outbreak, Chinese volunteer groups visited the home weekly “to facilitate activities that enhance the quality of life for our Chinese residents,” the home’s promotional material says.There are also “verbal and written translators for Little Mountain Place’s many Chinese residents” and an Asian menu. The home’s October newsletter says Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated at the facility, with mooncakes served to residents. The Hong Kong-style Saint Germain Bakery also donates Chinese buns to the facility.Little Mountain on Vancouver’s Eastside was long a bastion for working-class Chinese – although a citywide real estate boom boosted its prosperity – and 33 per cent of the neighbourhood’s residents are of Chinese heritage, census data shows.While other parts of Vancouver have been heavily influenced by the recent influx of Mandarin-speaking Chinese immigrants, Cantonese speakers still make up about two-thirds of Little Mountain’s ethnic Chinese population.In the newsletter, executive director Millar was upbeat, acknowledging the pandemic but saying “the new normal is not stopping us from celebrating the joys of the season”.“We are certainly missing our families and friends and hope you will continue to keep in touch with telephone calls, Zoom meetings and social visits,” Millar wrote. A new visiting area was under construction in the hope of keeping visiting families “warm and cosy”, she added.Those visits have been shelved since the facility went into lockdown 39 days ago.In the December 21 Zoom meeting, Millar fought back tears as she described the shocking toll Covid-19 had taken, News 1130 reported.“I’m sorry, I do still get emotional sometimes, but I’m going to do my best,” she said.Get body from SCMP feed. <div>[RELATED STORIES: </div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/01/20/photo-of-texas-doctor-comforting-elderly-covid-patient-goes-viral">Photo of Texas doctor comforting elderly COVID patient goes viral</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/26/20/government-urged-to-ensure-welfare-wellbeing-of-senior-citizens">Government urged to ensure welfare, wellbeing of senior citizens</a></li></ul><div>WATCH: From Wuhan, how did COVID-19 spread all over the world? | TV Patrol </div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Djw2DpktoW4?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><div> </div>

British Columbia’s worst coronavirus outbreak has ravaged Little Mountain Place, killing more than a quarter of its residents and infecting 82 percent. Health authorities, meanwhile, refuse to discuss the situation, saying they want to avoid ‘unnecessary concern’

British Columbia’s worst coronavirus outbreak has ravaged Little Mountain Place, killing more than a quarter of its residents and infecting 82 percent. Health authorities, meanwhile, refuse to discuss the situation, saying they want to avoid ‘unnecessary concern’

31 die in Vancouver care home catering to Chinese elders, as a COVID-19 tragedy quietly unfolds in the suburbs

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31 die in Vancouver care home catering to Chinese elders, as a COVID-19 tragedy quietly unfolds in the suburbs

Ian Young,

South China Morning Post

Published January 01, 2021 12:35 PM PHT

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