December 30, 2020 —Update for December 30, 2020 PART 1
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
In the last 24 hours we’ve had two additional positive COVID tests – 1 employee and 1 contractor. Neither have resulted in staff or resident exposure, which is why I want to share with you what I actually think is some good news, but bear with me because it may not seem that way at first. I want to review some positive COVID scenarios from the last few weeks with you and how they have played out.
• -We had a contractor test positive – but was being tested PRIOR to doing any work on campus. Thus, no exposure to any staff or residents.
• -We had a nursing staff member test positive – this was a per diem employee who had not worked in several weeks so was tested prior to working, again avoiding any exposure to staff or residents.
• -We had a salon staff member test positive – 11 residents quarantined – so far no positive results one week post-exposure.
• -We had a Facilities Dept member test positive and several staff quarantined – no additional positive results.
• -We had two nursing staff members test positive – both very conscientious about using PPE – no staff or residents have tested positive.
• -Just about every employee or contractor that has tested positive has been notified by us first – and generally a couple of days before they experience any symptoms.
Why is this important?
Two things are significant. First, we are reviewing the results multiple times a day so that if we have a positive result we get to the employee as quickly as possible and before they report for their next shift. Second, it’s likely that our twice per week testing is identifying infections before people have developed enough viral load to be very contagious. I believe this is SIGNIFICANT in helping to stop the spread in our community.
Does this mean the virus isn’t very contagious? NO! I can tell you story after story about communities who have gone from 1 infection to 30 to 60+ in just a few days. Could this happen to us? Absolutely. But aggressive screening, testing, quarantining, and use of PPE and distancing can stop the spread.