Seventeen people have now died from COVID-19 at North York’s Hawthorne Place Care Centre, where 47 residents have tested positive and a team of military personnel is now offering emergency assistance, the home says.

The announcement comes on the heels of another reported death at the Eatonville Care Centre in Etobicoke, the province’s second-deadliest nursing home outbreak. To date, Eatonville — which has been named in a class-action lawsuit — has confirmed 39 deaths, with 142 residents and 92 staff testing positive. Results for another 61 people are still pending.

Both nursing homes are among the five in Ontario to start receiving military help this week to try and contain their deadly COVID outbreaks.

Last week, Premier Doug Ford appealed to Ottawa for teams of military personnel to help with the province’s crisis in long-term care facilities, where the novel coronavirus has been spreading like “wildfire.” In addition to Hawthorne and Eatonville, army medics and nurses are now helping at Altamont Care Community in Scarborough, which has 170 cases among residents and staff and 33 deaths; Grace Manor in Brampton, with 70 total cases and two deaths; at Orchard Villa in Pickering, which has 245 total cases and 48 deaths in the province’s worst outbreak.

These facilities were chosen because they “have the most acute staffing challenges leading to poor resident outcomes,” Gillian Sloggett, press secretary for the minister of long-term care, said in an emailed statement.

“The Canadian Armed Forces teams will work in partnership with long-term care homes, as well as local hospitals, to help with infection control and prevention, and maintaining staffing levels in the homes,” Sloggett said. “Personnel redeployed will include medics and nurses accustomed to delivering excellent patient care, who will assist with a range of duties.”

As recently as Monday, Hawthorne was listed as having just two COVID-19 deaths, according to Toronto Public Health data. In a statement, executive director Gale Coburn confirmed that 62 staff have also tested positive for COVID at Hawthorne, with another 49 test results pending, she said. She said some residents may be retested to “ensure that we have an accurate understanding of the outbreak in our home.”

At Hawthorne, 28 support staff from the Canadian Armed Forces are now working alongside registered nurses and other staff, Coburn said. “Our entire team is grateful for the increased staffing support we’ve received ... We applaud each and every individual and organization that continues to support us in putting residents, and their needs, first.”

At Eatonville, the military arrived on Monday to lend support to the home, with nearly 30 Canadian Armed Forces staff providing medical support, meals, and housekeeping.

“These reinforcements will greatly benefit and bolster the hard-working team at Eatonville Care Centre who have pushed through the last few weeks with dedication and compassion,” said Evelyn MacDonald, executive director of the home, in the statement.

“The staff moods have been elevated with the CAF arrival and support. Our thanks again, to the premier and government for moving this initiative forward so quickly.”

According to the Star’s most recent count of publicly available records, more than 850 people have died in 268 confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks at an Ontario long-term-care or retirement home.

Eatonville has become the target of a class-action lawsuit filed in Ontario Superior Court on Friday that alleges the company running the facility neglected patients and failed to “properly and adequately plan for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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It also alleges the home had inadequate staff and that it failed to comply with provincial and federal health regulations.

Responsive Group — which runs several care homes and has not yet filed a statement of defence — said in a statement to the Star that it “recognizes the rights of individuals to advance their concerns through litigation.”

“It is equally important that all parties in such matters have the opportunity to present information to the court and for it to be reviewed and thoughtfully considered. The court will then have to determine whether a concern merits certification.”

With files from Jenna Moon