At his weekly press briefing yesterday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey commended Arizonans and said that even though the state has made significant progress to contain the spread of covid-19, the virus remains widespread. Although the number of new COVID-19 cases has decreased about 22% in the past week, it still remains at a daily average high of 2,355 new cases per day. The governor urged Arizonans to continue to press on and continue to practice the things that are working – wearing a mask, hand washing, staying physically distant and avoid congregating in groups, and staying home as much as possible.
beatitudes campus is following that advice. We are also relentlessly advocating for increased testing, particularly in communities like Beatitudes Campus. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is putting a plan in place for nursing homes to receive the rapid-results testing kit, but have not yet provided the timeline of when we could receive it. So, for the near future, we will be funding our own testing. We have received all the results from our first mass staff testing. The results are: 346 staff tested negative and nine tested positive. Eight of those nine staff remain asymptomatic and show no symptoms of COVID-19; however, because they carried the disease, they could spread it. These staff are currently in quarantine at their homes and monitored daily. Yesterday, July 23, we continued our weekly testing of approximately 245 direct care staff and support personnel, and plan to do that weekly at least for the next few weeks. We will continue to do biweekly mass testing for all campus staff and the next testing date is next Thursday, July 30.
I want to inform you that we were notified today that a resident from Central Park West has tested positive for COVID-19. The resident is in quarantine and the staff is conducting contact tracing. We have 23 active cases on campus – three residents (all in Independent living) and 20 staff. Fifty-four individuals have recovered from COVID-19 – 19 residents and 35 staff.
Here at the campus, we see a glimmer of light in mitigating the spread of COVID-19, and are starting to see the tangible result of continuing our screening, infection control protocol, testing and restrictions. The data will inform us when we can start modifying the restrictions we have currently have in place. Staff and leadership teams are planning the strategic, phased-in lifting of restrictions for Independent Living residents, so that we will be ready when the time is right. Our licensed areas–the Health Care Center and Assisted Living–are guided by federal and state mandates, so we will follow their recommendations.
Thank you for your trust. Our top priority is the safety of our residents, staff and community. Your trust and actions are paramount to our success. If you have any concerns or comments, please reach out to BeWell @BeatitudesCamups.org.
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