I have some disheartening, yet very important, news to share with you. On April 23, 2021 we had a staff member test positive for COVID. More importantly, this marked our first instance of a fully vaccinated person testing positive for the virus. This person has not worked in our building since April 20, 2021.
We tested all residents in our Memory Care Unit on April 23. We also are suspending visitations in the memory care unit for at least the next 14 days. Staff must wear full PPEs on the unit, and we will work to do our best to get all residents to wear masks when in the common area and be socially distanced. Doing so can be very challenging in an area with residents who have memory impairment.
I have been in contact with the Health Department since this is the first instance of a fully vaccinated person being COVID positive. We will be monitoring all residents and staff in the memory care area very carefully during the next 14 days.
We did our due diligence with contact tracing of this person. We were able to trace exposure to someone outside of work who tested positive last week.
Our COVID update since March 2020: Villa St. Joseph has one (1) Active Staff Cases and no (0) Active Resident Cases. We have a total of 89 resident and staff cases at Villa St. Joseph, one (1) Active Staff case. (0) resident cases in the Memory Care Assisted Living at Villa St. Joseph and a cumulative total of one (1) case. Marymount Place has no Active Resident or staff cases — and a cumulative total of 11 resident/staff cases.
This news is yet another indication of how seriously we all must take the virus. We need to be extremely careful when we socialize, even if vaccinated. Having a social gathering among unvaccinated and vaccinated people can put us at risk as we have heard in the media. We MUST practice the three W’s – WASH your hands, WEAR a mask, and WATCH your distance.
If you have not already, then please make your appointment to get the vaccine. Now it is more important than ever.
Please call me if you have any questions. Have a safe and enjoyable week everyone.