As Lynda Bennett gave her 85-year-old dad a gentle rub on his back, she breathed a sigh of relief knowing he was able to come home for Christmas.
Bennett’s father, Barry Ibbott, managed to leave the Chartwell Malaspina Gardens long-term care home in Nanaimo, where he lives, just days before an outbreak of COVID-19 was declared at the facility.
“My dad came home on December 23rd which was amazing,” said Bennett.
A few days later on Dec. 27, Bennett and her father received a phone call from Chartwell Malaspina Gardens informing them that a case of COVID-19 had been identified at the long-term care facility.
“They were informing us that one case of COVID had been identified on my dad’s floor,” recalled Bennett.
The next day, a second patient in the same first-floor wing of the facility tested positive as well.
“I am beyond lucky, I am beyond blessed,” said Bennett.
Since Island Health declared an outbreak of COVID-19 at the 136-room facility on Dec. 27, at least one other resident has tested positive.
The entire facility is under lockdown and Island Health says the outbreak, so far, is limited to just one unit where 36 people live.
Ibbott said he is thinking of all those friends, staff included, who are inside in the middle of this COVID-19 outbreak.
“I appreciate them and while I’m very happy to be with my daughter and family, I’m thinking of them. I realize how lucky I am,” he said.
Island Health says contact tracing hasn’t yet determined the source of the outbreak, but extensive protocols are in place and testing is now underway.
Ibbott won’t be returning to his care home until the outbreak is long over and will remain with his family for as long as it takes, Bennett says.
Lynda Bennett’s father, Barry Ibbott, managed to leave a care home in Nanaimo days before a COVID-19 outbreak was declared at the facility. (CHEK News)
Skye Ryan
