There are no new positives in any other unit. The one IL positive continues to recover. We have 1 new staff positive, but no close contact with residents. We are waiting for some weekly tests from the Meadows, but we have seen no new positives with the results we have gotten. The most recent positivity percentage in Delaware county is now 25.5%, up from 15.3% last week. That is the highest increase in positivity we have seen since the pandemic began. Again, I would ask for common sense when visiting your loved ones. The Meadows is directed to stay open for visitation by the state mandate, but my strong suggestion is to keep your visits short, be absolutely diligent with mask wearing, and stay focused on your personal health and your own close contacts. We do have window visits and we can set up Face Time or phone interactions. The virus is highly infectious and for your own safety and the safety of your loved ones, be prudent. Pines residents will receive further information from Tamara directly. Independent Living is open for visitation, but again, I would strongly suggest prudence, at least for the next couple of weeks. Keep your visits short and the group size low. Please limit your time in the community spaces and keep your masks on at all times. These are the best defenses we have at this time, masking and limited interaction. Vaccination has allowed the recent positive cases to be very mild, but we have residents who are compromised and even a mild case can have unfortunate effects.
We have our next booster clinic this coming Monday, January 3rd. Our partner pharmacy, Springfield Pharmacy is open daily for boosters, but it is very busy right now and they come to our community directly, which is very convenient and much appreciated. We have had clinics onsite since October and will continue until there seems to be no need.
I want to clarify some items around our wellness office. I have received some emails and phone calls about covid testing in wellness. We do not have an onsite lab. I know of no CCRC that has an onsite lab. All of our labs are sent to an outside lab service and we get back results as soon as then can run the lab. In times like this, it may be 2-3 days for results, but even at the best of times, it will be no less than 24 hours. If someone in Independent Living feels they need a test, they will need to get an order from their doctor. We have a few residents that utilize the physicians who come onsite to see our Meadows and Pines residents, but most have outside doctors. We would need an order from them to draw the lab. And again, it would be sent offsite for results.
If you have symptoms and feel you need to be tested, your best choice is to either go to an emergency room or an urgent care center. Our wellness office is neither of these things so there should be no expectation for those types of service here. We can assist with transportation to an ER or to an urgent care center, if we have transport available, or we can contact ambulance services if that is necessary. If there is any confusion about this, please reach out to wellness or me directly to review available services more directly. It is difficult right now to access testing out in the community and emergency rooms are also very crowded, so I return to my earlier statement that it is a good time to curtail your visitation. Please have a Happy New Years and I am sure we are all sharing the same hope that 2022 is a better year!
