Lancashire Hall COVID Communications

 We are in the process of completing week two outbreak testing.  All residents have tested negative.  The staff tested today were all negative.  The county positivity rate this week is down from 3.8% last week to 3.6% this week.  If all employee test results are negative, we will be testing non-vaccinated staff monthly starting next week. Wishing you all a Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Sharon Eyster, MA, ACBSW, CNHA, FACHCA Director of Operations, Wilmac

The facility is in the process of completing the second week of outbreak testing since the employee positive test result on 5/14/21.  There were no positive resident or staff test results identified since the positive test result of 5/14. Today, the Lancaster County positivity rate is at 3.8% which means that staff testing will be reduced to monthly after the weekly testing next week provided the county positivity rate remains below 5%. We continue to encourage residents, employees and family members to get the vaccine to support our efforts at protecting our residents from exposure to COVID-19.  We will continue with scheduled indoor visits as planned.  The updated guidance from CMS on 4/27 (see blog of 4/30) provided new guidance for fully vaccinated residents and their visitors.  Visitors may voluntarily disclose their vaccine status if they wish to visit fully vaccinated residents without the use of masks or physical distancing.  We have included this as an option in our visitation

We are continuing with outbreak testing this week following the positive employee test result reported on Monday. This morning, another employee tested positive.  Contact tracing revealed that there was no resident exposure.  A new round of outbreak testing was started today.  All residents were tested today and all had negative results.  115 employees were tested today, 114 had negative results.  The rest of the staff will be tested tonight and tomorrow. The Lancaster County positivity rate this week is down to 5.1%, which is good news.  We continue to follow CMS and CDC infection control guidance for nursing homes. Staff continue to be screened before the start of their shift.  Staff are also required to wear eye protection and face masks in Green Zones (no exposure, no suspected COVID-19).   A Yellow Zone (transmission based precautions)  is reserved for new admissions who are not vaccinated or for anyone with suspected symptoms (there are none).  Yellow Zone guidance requires staff

We learned today that one employee has tested positive for COVID-19.  The employee has not been in the facility since last Wednesday and just received a positive test result from a physician after developing symptoms.  The current CMS guidance requires us to suspend indoor visits until the first round of outbreak testing has been completed.  Outbreak testing was conducted today on residents and staff (regardless of vaccine status) and there have been no new positive test results as of this evening.   There are still a few remaining staff and residents who will need to be tested before we can conclude the first round of outbreak testing.  We will work diligently to complete this in the interest of resuming indoor visits as soon as reasonably possible.  We are hopeful that there will be no additional positive cases. Contract tracing was completed and it was determined that there was no resident exposure from this employee, therefore, we are not required to implement transmission based pr