I can't speak for the Canadian forces, but I can say that the impact of the Red Cross's work in these facilities has been enormous.
Seniors in these institutions and several employees who worked there had contracted the virus. It was a vicious cycle. We were losing staff and were less able to provide services. There were significant gaps throughout the service chain.
The Red Cross provides assistance to organizations to rebuild trust and better control systems. We also provided additional staff during this period. On the other hand, we were losing staff and fear was building in these facilities. There was a lack of staff to provide essential services. We were able to stabilize the situation. The fear in the long-term care facilities was very significant.
In the future, there will be a need to build and maintain a rapid response capacity to respond to all kinds of emergencies.
It's important to remember that the provinces have taken over, certainly in Quebec, by recruiting more staff to meet the needs.