Study Finds Canada’s Proportion of LTC Deaths Double the Average of Other Nations

Healthcare workers use a sheet to obscure a person on a stretcher as the body is placed in an unmarked van outside the Laurier Manor in Ottawa, a long term care facility experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, on April 26, 2020. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

TORONTO—A new study finds the proportion of Canadian COVID-19 deaths that have occurred in long-term care (LTC) facilities is about twice the average of rates from other developed nations.

The analysis released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information provides a damning snapshot of senior care as of May 25, when LTC residents made up 81 percent of all reported COVID-19 deaths in the country compared to an average of 42 percent among all countries studied.