COVID-19 Update – Decommissioning of the Cohorting Area at Tucker Hall, Parkland Saint John

When a COVID-19 outbreak was declared at Tucker Hall on November 20, a cohorting area was rapidly established on Simms Court, one of the neighbourhoods of the community. A cohorting area is a dedicated space that is equipped with everything needed to isolate and care for residents who test positive for COVID-19. It ensures the safety of other residents and team members at Tucker Hall.
Upon testing positive, residents were immediately transferred to the cohorting area where they are being cared for since by dedicated staff. All residents being cared for in our COVID-19 cohorting area at Tucker Hall are expected to be considered recovered by Public Health later this week and we have a plan to safely discharge them from the cohorting area.

Plan for Discharging Residents

Public Health, the Medical Officer of Health and Shannex’s Infection Control Specialist determine when a resident has passed the infectious stage, is improving and is deemed well enough to be discharged from the cohorting area.

• On day 14, following a positive diagnosis or date of symptom onset, a detailed assessment of the resident is done.
• The resident then remains on isolation precautions in their suite for an additional seven days to provide them time to physically recover and remain separate from the rest of the residents on Simms Court.

When the resident meets these criteria, they will be considered recovered and will be discharged from the cohorting area.

Decommissioning of Cohorting Area

When all residents are considered recovered and approved to be discharged from the cohorting area, it will be time to decommission the cohorting area.

• All rooms used in the cohorting area and all common areas of Simms Court will be professionally deep cleaned.
• All employees who have been working in the cohorting area will leave the workplace and start their 14-day isolation period.
• The physical barriers that were used as the walls of the cohorting area will be removed.

The decommissioning of the cohorting area at Tucker Hall is expected to be completed this week. For everyone at Tucker Hall, this will be another step toward a return to normal life in their community. Public Health will lift the outbreak status of Tucker Hall 28 days after the last case is identified