A Toronto long-term care physician says the military should step in now to help a Scarborough nursing home dealing with a deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

As of Wednesday morning, there were 109 active cases among residents at the 254-bed Tendercare Living Centre, located at Victoria Park and McNicoll avenues. Fourty-nine staff members also tested positive for the virus, while a total of 26 residents have died from the disease, a significant jump from the 11 fatalities recorded on Sunday.

"We need to think outside the box, and if it means getting the military involved again, to help them, that probably should happen now," Dr. Silvy Mathew told CTV News Toronto on Tuesday.

Mathew isn’t a staff doctor at Tendercare but spent five hours working there on Sunday after an appeal went out to long-term care physicians.

She said the situation at the home is “dire” and that help is needed now in order to prevent more fatalities.

"You're in long-term care because you need help. You need help with either feeding yourself, bathing yourself, going to the washroom, [or] transferring yourself,” Mathew said. “If you don't have enough personal support workers, then you can't take care of people. You can have food delivered, but somebody has to help you actually eat it,” she added.

A spokesperson for Tendercare said the outbreak has been “extremely trying” and “difficult to mitigate” as staff members are getting sick and cases continue to surge in the surrounding community.

The spokesperson said in a statement that a management agreement with with North York General Hospital “will soon be finalized to better help Tendercare Living Centre in our fight against COVID-19”

“North York General Hospital has had personnel onsite since Monday, December 21 to assess the situation and determine the best course of action for needed assistance. It is with deep appreciation we welcome their teams to provide additional ongoing support to our staff and residents through the upcoming management agreement,” the statement reads. “Our teams will be collaborating with the physicians, clinicians and infection control experts provided by North York General Hospital to clear the virus from our home as quickly as possible, while reducing the current pressures on our staff as they work to care for our residents.”

The Ministry of Long-Term Care says that the Scarborough Health Network has been assisting the home since Dec. 14 to help control the outbreak.

When asked if the military would be deployed to further assist the home, the ministry said it is “confident” that their partners from across the health sector will help stabilize the home.

Meanwhile, Toronto's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen DeVilla was asked about the home during a news conference Wednesday morning and said Toronto Public Health is working with all long-term care homes that have an outbreak.

"All the options are always on the table with respect to what are the best approaches. We have to decide what makes sense in the context of long-term care homes based on what’s happening on the ground and those decisions are taken as quickly and in an evidence informed way as is humanly possible," she said.

Mathew, however, said she believes there isn’t enough staff that a hospital or agency could provide to improve the situation quick enough.

"They cannot get the care that they need. Not even close," she said. "There are preventable deaths here and if we just get enough help immediately, then we can do something."

The ministry said it has completed an inspection of the home and is determining “next actions” to take.

NDP MPP calls on Ford government to intervene

Scarborough Southwest MPP Doly Begum is calling on Premier Doug Ford to “step in immediately” and appoint temporary management to take over the nursing home.

"I am echoing the pleas for help from residents' families and doctors, who are calling the situation at Tendercare a nightmare scenario, with workers spread so thin that sick and dying patients aren't getting regular care," Begum said in a statement.

Begum noted that Tendercare remains under for-profit ownership and “is managed by the for-profit corporation Extendicare.”

Although Scarborough Health Network is assisting the home, Begum said intervention needs to happen now in order to prevent more deaths.

"Scarborough is a COVID-19 hotspot in urgent need of additional resources. Doug Ford's refusal to spend the money to increase staffing and implement infection prevention measures in long-term care homes has led to more outbreaks and more avoidable deaths," Begum said.

-With files from CTV News Toronto’s Janice Golding