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HomeNewsJubilee Lodge resident tests positive for COVID-19 one day before scheduled vaccine

Jubilee Lodge resident tests positive for COVID-19 one day before scheduled vaccine

The daughter of a woman living at Jubilee Lodge in Prince George says her mother tested positive for COVID-19 the evening before she was scheduled to be immunized.

Lisa Spetch of Prince George received the news that her mother, Olga, had contracted the virus just before midnight on December 22.

Lisa (left) and her mother , Olga. (Photo submitted by Lisa Spetch)

Olga, 93, was scheduled to receive the Pfizer vaccine the morning of December 23.

“I thought ok. She’s made it this far. She just needs one more day without getting sick and she’ll be free. My mood just sunk, to the ground.” Spetch told MyPGNow.

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“We all know our parents have to pass away at some point in the future, we just never think that day is going to come.”

Her mother has been battling the virus for the past 15 days, says Spetch, who is thankful Olga is currently in stable condition and only on supplementary oxygen.

Jubilee Lodge has been arguably the most severe healthcare outbreak in Northern Health.

The building was home to 66 individuals at the time the outbreak was declared on December 12.

As of tonight (Wednesday), the virus has infected 60 people at the home, including 48 residents.

Twelve of the health authorities’ 32 COVID-19  deaths have been attributed to the facility. 

Designated an essential visitor, the last time Spetch saw her mother in person was during a visit on December 11.

The outbreak declaration was put in place the following day, and families were limited to video calls once again.

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“I was so worried, but the staff would update me and say oh, she’s tested negative, she’s tested negative, as they tested her several times,” said Spetch.

Spetch decided to move her mother into the facility two years ago, after no longer being able to accommodate her increasingly complicated health.

“Her dementia just got to a point where I couldn’t look after her anymore, and the home care she got just wasn’t enough.”

She says the transition was difficult at first, but the care home staff has made her family feel welcome.

“My mom has always been one to wear lipstick and earrings, even if she was wearing a housecoat or a bathrobe. She always said if she had her hair done, her lipstick and her earrings then she was ready for the day,” recalls Spetch fondly.

“She always dressed to the nines. They (care staff) try as best as they can to go along with that.”

Olga was born in Russian-occupied Ukraine in 1927.

She moved to Berlin during World War II, where she worked as an interpreter for the German army at age 15.

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Her family immigrated to Paraguay in 1948, before eventually coming to Canada in 1955.

A speaker of five languages, she has 24 grand and great-grandchildren.

“She would pull pranks on us, and then laugh hysterically. But she never laughed out loud. So she would just be sitting there, laughing quietly but jiggling all over the place. She has quite a sense of humor.”

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