Dear Beatitudes Community,
In our continued pledge of transparency, I am reaching out to you today to let you know that we have had two fully vaccinated people – one is a part-time staff member and one is a contracted nurse practitioner – test positive for COVID-19. They both had mild symptoms. We have done contact tracing with the residents with whom they had interaction, and, with our increased monitoring, no residents have shown symptoms.
The Delta variant is 60% more transmissible than the original strain of the coronavirus. We do know that there have been reported breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated people. The good news is that the virus in most cases is mild and hospitalization and death among the fully vaccinated people are extremely low. Health experts do say that being vaccinated is the best defense against the Delta variant.
Arizona, with its vaccination rate below 50%, ranks seventh in the nation with the most cases of COVID-19. The state's seven-day average for new cases is the highest since mid-march and more than double the average from two weeks ago. The Delta variant is the dominant strain in Arizona. With the continued transmission of the virus, it will continue to replicate and create a higher risk that it could mutate into an even more deadly variant.
The good news is that 98% of our residents are vaccinated and 73% of are staff are vaccinated. That's quite an accomplishment! During this past month, we have held 52 “vaccine conversations” with staff to help separate myths from science.
So please, if you aren't vaccinated, consider getting your vaccine so that we can end this pandemic once and for all.
Stay safe.
My best,
michelle just, President and CEO
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