PINES REPORTS RESIDENT POD TESTING NEGATIVE FOR COVID

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

BRACEBRIDGE — Finally … some good news on the always busy COVID news front that’s keeping your ever-vigilant hyper local media in overdrive theses days.

After a couple of positive tests at the Pines last week, latest test results for staff have come back negative at the District of Muskoka retirement facility here.

In a release today, Sept. 24, the district says that since learning of a staff-member testing positive Sept. 19, the testing of all residents in the home area where the employee worked has been completed.

All residents have tested negative.

Testing of all staff is underway again this week and is nearing completion.

And with about 20 per cent of staff testing results received as of today all are negative so far.

Results for the remaining 80 per cent are pending.

Meanwhile precautions continue with all resident visits suspended.

Enhanced protocols for the cleaning of high touch surfaces and resident living areas also  continue.

The District remains focused on protecting residents and staff at the Pines Long-Term Care Home from COVID-19 and extensive measures are being taken to ensure the health, safety of wellbeing of residents and staff remain in place.

Regular updates continue to be provided to residents, their families, and staff along with regular updates to the community.

How can the community help?

According to public health, community spread of the COVID-19 has sharply risen to numbers not seen since the spring and they are asking the public to shrink their social circles as much as possible to those within their own household and to be cautious to reduce their exposure within the community.

The health unit has provided the following steps to keep everyone safe, including those returning to school and those living in long-term care homes:

  • Shrink your close contacts (the people you can get close to such as hugging and touching) as much as possible to only those people within your own household and those whose well-being requires or is dependent on it.
  • Think carefully about how often and where you go out to in the public, and try to limit to what is essential and avoid crowded spaces.
  • Limit social gatherings, and keep the number of people in your gatherings and get-togethers to 10 people or less indoors, or 25 or less outdoors; with people outside of your household, practise physical distancing, or wear a mask if you can’t.
  • Parents should screen children for symptoms of COVID-19 every day before they leave for school; if a child has even one symptom, they should stay home and self-isolate, and get tested.
With negative results, testing for residents of a pod affected by COVID and 20 per cent of staff so far are a positive sign as the pandemic’s second wave appear to be here.

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