It’s unclear why measures aimed at putting an “iron ring” around nursing homes failed to stop COVID-19 from causing “tragic” levels of death and illness, says Long-Term-Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton.

“This has never been seen before. COVID-19 is a new type of virus,” Fullerton said Thursday. “It’s tragic and it’s unprecedented.”

The admission came as the province revealed three-quarters of the new coronavirus fatalities officially reported Thursday in Ontario were of vulnerable nursing-home residents.

At least 933 have tested positive for COVID-19, along with 530 nursing-home staff to date, the highest toll of any workers in the health-care sector.

The measures to protect nursing homes include screening of new admissions, staff and volunteers and stiff restrictions on visitors.

But on Thursday the province added more measures. They include the temporary ban on transfers of hospital patients to long-term care unless in extraordinary circumstances, and only with a COVID-19 test followed by 14 days in isolation with droplet and contact precautions.

Nursing-home residents in the same room as a patient with symptoms will now be tested, as will all residents in adjacent rooms, all staff on the unit or nursing-care hub involved, any essential visitors and other contacts as deemed necessary.

Wider surveillance testing will also be conducted in select nursing homes to get a wider picture of disease.

Fullerton, a former family doctor, called the highly contagious virus different from the expected influenza pandemic and said improved testing and the freeze on hospitals transferring patients to long-term care will help limit the damage.

The goal is “to understand how elusive this COVID-19 is and what else we can do, what other tools we have for this,” she added, acknowledging some nursing homes were scrambling for staff even before the illness hit.

“It’s a new virus with a new way of spreading,” Fullerton told reporters, saying the way it is shared by people who are not showing symptoms has made it difficult to manage.

Statistics on outbreaks in more than 100 of the province’s 626 nursing homes became increasingly grim Thursday, further evidence of what Premier Doug Ford has famously dubbed a “wildfire.”

More than half, or 271, of the 514 new coronavirus cases reported by the Ministry of Health were in nursing-home residents who accounted for 29 of the 38 new deaths.

That’s the “first time” COVID-19 infections in nursing homes have outpaced new infections in the community, said chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams. The provincial numbers are based on reports from Ontario’s public health units as of 4 p.m. the previous day.

The numbers indicate COVID-19 cases in nursing homes grew at a rate of 12 per cent in 24 hours, double the rate in the general population. Across Canada, almost half of deaths from the illness are in long-term-care residents and 93 per cent of fatalities are in those over age 60.

Officially, Ontario has reported 162 deaths of nursing-home residents but a more up-to-date Star compilation of reports and news releases from public health units puts the number closer to 250.

Critics said the province should have put as much effort into preparing nursing homes for the onslaught as it did getting hospitals ready for a surge of patients that has not yet materialized.

“It should never have come to this,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, urging Ford to detail a plan to take over direct management of nursing homes with severe outbreaks, as has happened in British Columbia.

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“Families deserve answers as to why their mothers and fathers were not better protected,” added Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, calling for a public inquiry.

Acting on a promise made by Ford earlier this week, Fullerton said teams from several Toronto hospitals including Mount Sinai and North York General have been sent to 38 area nursing homes to determine what help they need with patient care, infection prevention and control, testing and personal protective equipment. The ministry would not reveal the names of the nursing homes.

“This is the model that we will be expanding across the province.”

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