October 21, 2020
Last evening we received notice of a health care employee who tested positive. This is a test from 10/15. We believe this employee exposure was from a positive resident prior to our knowledge of the resident’s COVID status. From Sunday evening until now we’ve received another 146 negative staff results. We have not yet received all health center resident results from the last round of testing; the ones we have received are all negative.
We had a “virtual” tour and consult with an Infection Prevention Consultant from the CDC Foundation yesterday afternoon and this was very helpful. In collaboration with her and the DOH Epidemiologist we are further tweaking our protocols and training. I want to assure you we have a singular focus right now: stopping the spread of COVID 19 at Kendal at Ithaca. We will continue to learn and practice everything we can to get ahead of the virus. This includes:
- Perfect PPE use – every time
- Decrease the turnaround time of testing results
- Screen aggressively and thoroughly
- Proactively identify opportunities for improved process, practice education
- Communicate in a way that is transparent and useful – to our residents, our staff, our board, and all stakeholders
- Support residents and staff to the very best of our ability.
-Laurie Mante
Executive Director