A personal support worker at a long-term care facility in Scarborough has died as a result of coronavirus.

Christine Mandegarian was a Services Employees International Union Healthcare (SEIU) member for 31 years and was employed at Altamont Care Community.

“Today we received the difficult news of the passing of a much-loved and valued team member from Altamont Care Community,” read a brief statement issued by the President and CEO Lois Cormack. “She will be sadly missed by all of her colleagues and by all the residents she cared for.”

According to the City of Toronto, there were 42 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Altamont and eight confirmed deaths as of April 15.

“We are thankful and want to show our appreciation for all the front-line workers risking their lives on a daily basis to keep our communities and patients safe,” the Scarborough Health Network said in a tweet while paying tribute to Mandegarian and all the other frontline healthcare workers.

Premier Doug Ford gave his condolences.

“My prayers and thoughts go out to the family,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking to hear of these tragedies and we’re doing everything we possibly can, as we’ve said, to put an iron ring around these homes.”

In a letter addessed to Premier Ford, SEIU president Sharleen Stewart said the organization is “mourning the loss of our dear member of 31 years from Scarborough, a caring and compassionate personal support worker (PSW) who died because of COVID-19.”

Stewart is calling for an immediate sit down with the premier, health minister and Ontario’s chief medical officer to discuss further actions the government can take to “support frontline healthcare workers as they fight for all of us against the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Among those actions, Stewart is calling on the provincial government to take over administration and operation of Eatonville Care Place and Anson Place Care Centre, saying “lives are literally at stake.”

At Eatonville, 31 residents have died from coronavirus and there are a total of 79 positive cases. The long-term care facility says everyone there will now be tested and the expanded testing criteria from Toronto Public Health will help them better understand the scope of the outbreak.

“Our members working on the frontline of these facilities have lost all confidence that everything that can be done is being done to keep people safe and protected,” said Stewart. “We believe management at these facilites have failed.”

Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton said Ontario’s ministry does not operate homes, but will assist when other companies come in to provide resources and support for struggling facilities.

Ontario has issued an emergency order – to take effect next week – preventing long-term care staff from working at multiple homes. The province has acknowledged that some outbreaks in those facilities were the result of staff who work in two or three homes inadvertently transferring the virus.

Health-care unions have long been calling for such a measure, saying staff often work at multiple facilities because they’re unable to get full-time positions at one home.

Fullerton has said the order is an interim solution, and Ontario will work with the federal government to address wages for those workers.

There are COVID-19 outbreaks reported at 106 long-term care homes in Ontario, with at least 1,229 residents and 621 staff members infected, and at least 216 resident deaths.