May 22, 2020 at 6:30 pm
Dear Village at Belmar Community,
We wanted to provide all of you with an update on the testing that we have been conducting over the last two days. Yesterday we received 20 results back from the contact tracing done from our positive resident as well as some additional associates who voluntarily asked to be tested. The results showed 19 negative results and 1 positive result. The positive was an asymptomatic associate who has been sent home and is resting comfortably. We then performed contact tracing on that associate and conducted 23 more tests on residents who may have come into contact with that individual.
Additionally, we had remaining associates from the positive resident’s contact tracing whose samples were processed today as well as several associates who requested to voluntarily be tested. This testing occurred yesterday and the results were received at 4:00 pm this afternoon. Of those results, there were 42 negatives and 1 positive. The positive was an asymptomatic associate who has also been sent home and is resting comfortably.
Based on the results from today, we have made the decision to test the remaining associates and residents in the Assisted Living and Memory Care areas of the community. This testing will be conducted over the next few days and results will be received between Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, since the lab does not test on the weekend nor on this Monday (which is a holiday). Once we complete this final round of full testing, we will continue doing weekly testing on all associates each week for at least the next two months.
As far as the one positive resident, that person continues to be asymptomatic and is being cared for by our Staffing Bubble which consists of two associates who have moved into apartments at the community and are each working 12 hour shifts for the next 28 days. The Staffing Bubble was activated at 6:00 am on May 21st, and will continue forward while we work through this situation. They will only be caring for COVID-19 positive resident(s) and not interacting with any other residents or associates. During their 28 day assignment these two associates will not leave the community.
We continue to be in close communication with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and Jefferson County Health Department and are following their direction and protocols, as well as those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Governor’s office and our Medical Consultant, Dr. Gagandeep Singh.
We appreciate this may be a difficult and uncertain time for you. We will be updating you on this situation as additional pertinent information comes available, and we will continue to work diligently to keep the rest of our community safe and healthy.
If you have any further questions, please reach out to Village at Belmar’s Executive Director, Michael Ruback.
Sincerely,
Susie Finley and Tom Finley
