9/3/21
Dear Family and Friends of Thief River Care Center,
Our last positive resident case was detected Monday, August 31st, making a total of 11 residents in the Covid unit. No positive residents have been identified since Sunday. We have a total of 5 nursing staff that have tested positive so far, all of whom have been removed from the schedule and quarantined as appropriate. We continue to monitor all residents’ vital signs and monitor for symptoms and testing when any symptoms are identified, and keeping a low threshold for testing. We completed outbreak testing on Tuesday and Friday of this week. We have some residents in the Covid unit reaching the end of the quarantined period, which is 14-21 days depending on symptoms and weather the individual is considered “Immuno-compromised”. We anticipate two residents to be moved off the unit over the weekend and early next week.
Our county positivity rate has continued to be in the red (Meaning greater than a 10% infection rate in Pennington County) and we must continue testing twice per week as a result of this increased rate. Our next testing dates for all staff and residents will occur Tuesday September 7 & Friday September 10th.
West Pod (Blueberry) residents have been in quarantine due to an exposure. This quarantine has to continue through September 9 due to a second known exposure, and may be extended based on individuals health status or if there are symptoms present. East/Evergreen pod residents have not had any known or traceable exposures so they are not considered to need to quarantine at this time but we are strongly encouraging them to wear masks and practice social distancing while out of their rooms.
The facility remains on lock down to general visitation but we are allowing essential caregivers and compassionate care (End of life) visits inside the resident rooms. Window visits and virtual visits are all options for residents and families at this time. Outside visits can be arranged for residents on east or when quarantine is completed for other residents in quarantine. Please schedule visits in advance by calling Lori at 218-683-8106.
A few things I shared at the last message, but wanted to share again since they are good reminders.
- Residents who are not in quarantine (East/Evergreen Residents) can participate in window visits and outside visits. Outside visits will require masks and social distancing.
- Residents who are quarantine (West/Blueberry) and residents who are in the active Covid unit can participate in virtual or window visits.
- Regardless of resident isolation status, we prefer the windows to be closed during any window visit. If residents choose to open the windows, we are advising social distancing to occur while any window is open. For residents in the Covid Unit and residents in quarantine due to exposure, we strongly advise against opening the window at all during those visits. Social distancing for non-covid residents would require the visitor and the resident each to remain at least 3 feet from either side of the window. \
Essential Caregivers: If you were an essential caregiver in previous covid outbreaks, we invite you to participate in testing starting Friday September 3rd. This is not a requirement in order to visit, just a “best practice” for those willing to participate. If you were not previously an essential caregiver, and would like to become one, please reach out to Lori @ 683-8106. Here are a few highlights of what it means to be an essential caregiver, to meet the requirements set in place by Minnesota Department of Health.
Family or friend of resident, in any relationship, must
- Must provide the resident an essential service, such as feeding, assistance with cares, or mental stability/prevention of major or disruptive behaviors. (Note: The essential caregiver program is intended to be more than a regular visitor and the interdisplinary team will review each request on a case by case basis).
- Essential Caregivers should be scheduled in advance of their visit and at entry, should be screened and wearing a mask, following social distancing protocols and good hand hygiene practices. The facility is required to monitor traffic in and out and the facility and reserves the right to schedule essential caregivers in a way that reduces traffic and limits numbers of persons in the facility at any given time.
- Essential caregivers visits should be limited to 2-3 hours per visit and going “in and out and in again” is prohibited.
- Stay inside the resident’s room is required while the facility is considered in “outbreak status”.
- Failure to adhere to any of the outlined requirements may result in the facility prohibiting the individual from coming to the care center during this or future outbreaks.
We appreciate your patience and we will continue to update resident families using this automated system. If you would like to be added to the list, or you know someone else you want added to the list, please email your Name, Your resident, your phone # or email address to estraw@trcc.sfhs.org
Respectfully,
Emily Straw