Dear Residents, Families and Associates of BridgePoint at Los Altos:
Yesterday we were informed that two groups from our pooled saliva test came back positive. Individual saliva tests were conducted for all 2nd floor residents. Notifications were made to agency workers and they were asked not to return until they provide a negative COVID result. In the meantime, 2nd floor residents will remain in quarantine in their apartments until we can identify the positive persons. Visitations for 2nd floor residents are suspended. We hope to receive results no later than tomorrow.
This week we began utilizing our new lab partner, Sensiva Health. With Sensiva Health, we expect to receive results as quickly as 24-48 hours after the lab receives our samples, a welcome change to our usual 3-5 day wait. This is especially valuable as labs around the country are currently facing a higher demand and the holidays are causing shipping delays. As 2nd floor residents have already experienced, we will collect saliva samples for individual testing to identify a positive person within a pool. This is another welcome change from the invasive nasal swabs.
It is important to note that the residents in the positive pool are asymptomatic and feeling okay, of which we are extremely thankful for. This reinforces how valuable our routine testing is as we can mitigate any silent spreading of the virus quickly. This also reinforces the importance of taking appropriate safety precautions of proper social distancing, hand hygiene and ongoing health monitoring, making safe decisions about where to go out, along with mask use. Masks are required to be worn properly at all times by all associates, essential visitors, and residents when outside of their apartments. These steps can provide an excellent line of defense in the fight against COVID-19 if we all stay vigilant in these efforts.
The pooled testing schedule for the next two weeks is as follows:
MONDAY, 12/21, WEDNESDAY, 12/23, MONDAY, 12/28 & WEDNESDAY, 12/30
Regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine: I would like to share that we have aligned the community with Walgreens to be signed up for an on-site clinic. We have also been in routine communication with the local Health Department to ensure we are ready. At this time Walgreens, who is responsible for the scheduling, has not determined our clinic date. What we do know is that they are going to begin vaccine clinics beginning this month. Due to the complexity of the vaccine distribution, we do know that we may not have much advance notice as to when our clinic will be scheduled. Considering there are so many questions about the vaccine our Kisco Senior Living home office team developed the attached statement and FAQs regarding the vaccine for your review. We hope you find this helpful.
We are very grateful to you for your continued support of BridgePoint as we navigate through this pandemic together. Our continued positive thoughts for everyone’s good health are with each of you. Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions. We appreciate your questions, feedback, and support.
As always, stay safe, stay healthy.
Sincerely,
Maria Quintero
Executive Director