Dear Beatitudes Community,
Our country is still focused on COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about 54 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including nearly 18 million people who have been fully vaccinated. Across the country about 2.04 million doses per day are given on the average. We have made such great progress in the past two months! If the country maintains its current pace of administering first doses, about half of the total population will be at least partially vaccinated around mid-June and nearly all around early October. The country has experienced an 82% drop in coronavirus cases among nursing home residents, a testament to the fact that vaccinations are working and are key to a normalized life for residents. The cases have declined more dramatically among these residents and staff members than in the general population, which still remains largely unvaccinated. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!
In Maricopa County, about 1.09 million doses of the vaccine have been administered at a rate of 25,000 doses per day. Twenty percent of all adults in the county have been vaccinated. Just this week, the state of Arizona lowered the age for the current priority group to 55 years. This is great news for many families of our residents, who now can be vaccinated. Even with these good numbers, we're not out of the woods yet and the virus is still spreading widely in our community, with hundreds of new cases reported each day. So please continue to follow public health guidelines – masks, distancing and hand washing.
The first phase of the campus re-opening this week was quite successful. it is so good to see more people outside and more people engaged with their neighbors. Our skilled nursing area was able to re-start Designated Essential Visits this week and, after next Wednesday, March 10, Assisted Living/Early Memory support residents will be able to start walking outside on campus. Next Tuesday, March 9, we will be reopening our amenities for Independent Living residents – Backstreet Boutique and Gift Shop and the Salons. I look forward to running into staff and residents at the Gift Shop or Backstreet Boutique!
This week, during two staff and resident testing sessions, we received all negative results! We will continue testing staff in the near future, as testing is key in mitigating the spread of the virus. We have no new cases of COVID-19 on campus, and still have one support staff member out, and the quarantine period for that staff member will end on Monday.
I want to give all of you – residents, families and staff – my heartfelt thanks for your support. We are all in this together. We are Beatitudes Strong!
My best,
Michelle Just,
President and CEO
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