October 30th

October 30th Letter

October 30, 2020

Facility Update

On Tuesday of this week, Mari de Villa was informed that we had our first resident test positive for Covid-19. This resident was admitted to the hospital on Monday for needs unrelated to Covid-19. As a precaution, the hospital administered a test that night and we were notified the next day that their test was positive. Immediately following this information, we began administering our serology tests that we have on site to help rule out any additional possible cases among residents and/or staff. All of the serology tests provided negative results for antibodies.

Even though we had not identified any positive serology tests, and we had not identified any residents or staff with the traditional symptoms, we proceeded to test every resident and staff member with nasal swab tests.

Currently we still have some tests pending, but we have identified additional residents and staff members that tested positive for Covid-19. Until this point, the symptoms that both residents and staff have presented have been mild and do not reflect the primary identifying symptoms for Covid-19. There had not been any symptoms present that directly raised concerns of Covid-19.

Since early March, our staff has had their temperatures taken at the beginning of every shift and our residents have their temperatures taken at least twice a day. While the threshold for a fever is 100.4*, we will take extra precaution when there is an elevated temperature of 99.5* or higher. We still have not identified anyone with a fever, including any individual from Mari de Villa that has tested positive for Covid-19.

While we have not had anyone describe symptoms that typically raises a concern of Covid, we have been in close contact with all of our staff members that have tested positive and trying to identify any symptoms that might have stood out to them that may help us identify what to look for in this strain that is present in our facility.

After reflecting on the last 5 to 7 days, some staff had made comments such as they had a headache or sinus congestion on a specific day over the past week. However, they have these same symptoms every year with allergies or when the weather changes. Most of these symptoms which potentially could have been due to their Covid-19 diagnosis, were generally thought to be due to previously diagnosed condition that each was aware of and treating in that manner.

In response to this situation, we have immediately begun the following actions:

Precautionary Quarantine for all of residents until we have 100% of Covid results in
Increase the frequency of testing in an effort to identify, isolate, treat, and eliminate positive cases
All staff have begun wearing N-95 masks
Educating all staff and residents of the symptoms that resemble the other cases within our facility (in addition to the previous symptoms)

These will be in addition to other precautions that we have had in place.

Out of an abundance of caution, we will be temporarily pausing the outdoor visits and window visits and you will have the choice of a FaceTime, Zoom, or Skype Call.

All families and doctors of residents who have tested positive have been notified. Again, we have administered Covid-19 tests on all residents and the results are pending for some. The lab is actively processing the lab tests and we anticipate this round of testing to be completed within the next couple days.

We understand the concern and severity of the situation. Please know that we are doing everything that we can to care for our residents and staff members during this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep everyone updated accordingly.

Every situation is unique and we are here to work with each resident and family at Mari de Villa. Please do not hesitate to reach out should you have any questions. We appreciate everyone’s understanding throughout all of this.
All of us at Mari de Villa understand this is a very difficult time for our families and we want to do everything we can to ensure that your loved ones are taken care of. We are continuing to provide the same level of care, and then some! Please reach out at anytime for updates, questions, concerns.
As always, we can be reached 24 hours per day. Do not hesitate to reach out at any time.

636-227-5347
Info@MarideVilla.com