Update November 4, 2020

 We are pleased to report that we have continued to have no positive COVID-19  test results for residents or staff.  Our last positive employee test result was  on September 24th.  The last positive resident test result was five months ago.  The facility had been conducting monthly testing during the month of October in accordance with CMS guidance.  Our testing strategy depends on the COVID-19 positivity rating in the county where the facility is located. I mentioned in a previous post that a facility which resides in a county with a low positivity rating (<5%) are required to test monthly, facilities residing in counties with a medium positivity rating (5-10%) are required to test weekly and facilities residing in high positivity counties (>10%) are required to test twice a week.  On November 2nd, Lancaster County's positivity rating jumped from a 4.7% to 5.8%.  That percentage put us in the medium positivity level and we therefore began testing staff weekly as of this week.  We will report the results as they are available. 

The guidance on visitation has been more liberal as of October 13th when PA DOH revised the re-opening guidance from September 3rd and September 17th respectively.  We are following CMS guidance which specifies that visitation should be conducted in accordance with core  principles of COVID-19 infection prevention.  We have updated our policy to reflect the change in guidance.  Copies of the policy are reviewed and explained to all visitors.  

We urge everyone to adhere to hand hygiene, social distancing, and masking guidance when in public especially given the increased number of positive cases that have been reported in the last several weeks.  We are at the mercy of what's happening in the greater community.  Please be cautious, do not attempt to visit if you are sick, and understand that our screening, education and enforcement measures during visits are strictly in the interest of keeping our residents and employees safe.  


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