Man dies amid flu outbreak at Toronto
homeless shelter
FERNANDO MORALES/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
JEFF GRAY TORONTO CITY HALL REPORTER
PUBLISHED JANUARY 24, 2018
A man has died amid an outbreak of
influenza at Toronto's largest homeless
shelter as the city scrambles to expand
its overcrowded facilities for those living
on the street.
Associate medical officer of health
Allison Chris confirmed to The Globe
and Mail on Wednesday that public-
health officials have been investigating
an influenza outbreak since Sunday on
the "long-term stay" floor of the Seaton
House homeless shelter, near Jarvis and
Gerrard Streets.
Seaton House informed Toronto Public
Health on Wednesday morning that a
man staying at the shelter and suffering
from "respiratory symptoms" had died,
Dr. Chris said. Whether he actually had
influenza has not been confirmed and
she could not say the victim's age.
About 23 of the approximately 100
residents on the shelter's fourth floor –
many of whom are older than 55 and
suffer from mental and physical health
problems – have been sick with
respiratory symptoms since Sunday, Dr.
Chris said. Seven of them had cases so
severe they went to hospital.
But for now, Dr. Chris said, the situation
at the shelter appears not to be
worsening: "Fortunately it seems that
we're not seeing more cases at this
point."
Special precautions have been taken at
the shelter since Sunday. Warning signs
have been put up advising residents and
staff to wash their hands frequently and
cough into their sleeves. Staff who deal
directly with sick residents are being
advised to wear masks and goggles. And
extra disinfectant cleaning is being
done.
Local city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam
said she had been told by shelter
officials that five of the men taken to
hospital were in the intensive-care unit.
She warned that if more outbreaks
occur, especially in one of the city's new,
crowded temporary warming centres, or
in one of the city's mostly church-run
Out of the Cold programs for the
homeless, the problem could get out of
hand quickly.
"I don't believe that we can handle this if
it spreads," Ms. Wong-Tam said.
She said activists and front-line workers
have been warning city hall for years
that the city needed more shelter beds
and more health care in its shelters. Just
Tuesday, the province of Ontario
announced a pilot project to offer more
health services in a handful of Toronto
shelters.
On Wednesday, activists with the
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty rallied
at City Hall to decry crowded conditions
and demand more shelter beds.
It is not the first disease outbreak at
Seaton House, which just last year
emerged from a 19-month outbreak of
the bacterial infection strep.
The massive and aging shelter, which
can house more than 500 people, has
long been slated to be torn down and
redeveloped, forcing the city to scramble
to replace its capacity elsewhere.
Cathy Crowe, a nurse and long-time
advocate for the homeless, said the
influenza outbreak underscores the
dangers in the city's failure to live up to
its own shelter crowding standard,
which is to cap its shelters at 90 per cent
of their capacity.
"When you have the crowding, it is
easier for something like that to spread,"
Ms. Crowe said.
Jo Connelly, executive director of the
Inner City Family Health Team, which
provides health services at Seaton
House, said her staff, shelter workers
and other health workers were trying
very hard to deal with what she
described as a "very virulent" outbreak.
She feared there could be more deaths
among the men sent to hospital: "We're
not sure how many of them are going to
make it. It's that serious."
She said one factor at the crowded
shelter may have been the influx of
homeless people from the street in the
current crisis into beds normally
reserved for Seaton House's long-term
residents, potentially exposing both
groups to new illnesses from each other.
A spokesman for John Tory said the
mayor is aware of the outbreak and is
being updated on the situation.
"The loss of any life is tragic and our
condolences go out to this man, his
family and friends," spokesman Don
Peat said. "Influenza outbreaks aren't
unusual at this time of year and we have
been informed the city is seeing a
number of influenza outbreaks,
including in a number of long-term care
homes."
Word of the outbreak comes after a
shelter-capacity crisis forced city
officials to scramble to find new beds as
temperatures plummeted in late
December, opening a convention centre
at Exhibition Place and later the
Canadian military's Moss Park Armoury
as temporary emergency shelters.
After supporting plans to add a smaller
number of new shelter beds last
December, Mr. Tory has since called for
more investment in the shelter system
as the crisis worsened. On Tuesday, his
budget chief, councillor Gary Crawford,
and the city's budget committee
approved a motion to add funding for
1,000 new shelter beds over three years.
But activists argue that the plan does not
move fast enough.