Dear Residents, Families, and Associates of First Colonial Inn,
I am happy to share that we have remained COVID-free for another week at First Colonial Inn. We greatly appreciate our residents’ and associates’ efforts in maintaining the safety protocols and practices as it attributes to the fact that our residents have remained COVID-free and we have had limited cases among our associates.
We will complete one more round of our bi-weekly surveillance testing of our associates along with employees from both Silver Strands Salon and Genesis Rehab on 10/21. We then plan to launch our pooled testing beginning the week of 10/26. Pools will be comprised of residents who do not leave the community (tested 1x/week), residents who leave the community (tested 2x/week) and all associates and employees of Silver Strands Salon and Genesis Rehab. We also plan to add in testing for essential visitors. This new pooled testing does not involve any of the invasive nasal or throat swabs but instead utilizes a saliva sample. This testing will assist us in quickly identifying if there is any COVID activity within an identified group. If COVID activity is identified within a pool, we will then conduct further testing and put the proper precautions in place.
While the current COVID-19 safety protocols remain in place we are looking forward to the benefits that this new testing capability will allow us. We are currently putting plans in place to allow for our residents to return to a closer to normal life here at First Colonial Inn, including lifting the shelter in place restrictions and reintroducing modified dining room services. As we get closer to the start of the pooled testing we will share further details as to the specific day/time and process. We are excited to be able to take these forward-moving steps, and we appreciate your support and patience as we put the plans in place.
Remaining COVID-free and looking forward to the upcoming changes are bright spots for sure! Below are some of the additional “bright spots” from our week, along with some reminders/updates:
- The Indoor Visit Station appointments are available on the hour between 10a-6p daily and are 30 minutes in duration. In between each visit we ensure that the room is fully sanitized. The Outdoor Visit Station is also still available for those who would prefer an open-air visit. Appointments are available daily between 9a-6p. Appointments, available to residents who are not limited via Shelter in Place precautions, are to be made via the Front Desk at 757-428-2884 and/or reception@kiscosl.com.
- We have heard from many residents as to how much they appreciate having the sign-up sheets for the laundry room usage. The sign-up sheets are located outside of the laundry rooms and are available in two-hour increments for use by one resident at a time. We have also received some concerns from residents indicating that there have been residents using the laundry rooms during times when they have not signed up, causing others to miss their designated time slots. In addition, the usage of the laundry rooms is limited to only those residents who are not currently limited via the Shelter in Place precautions. We appreciate your understanding and observance of the procedures put in place.
- Mail call! This is just a reminder to check your US mailbox on a regular basis. The postman has had to remove some larger bundles from some of the mailboxes as they became too full.
- We thank everyone who participated in the Flu Shot Clinic on Tuesday. We had several associates and over 100 residents attend!
- We had another wonderful weather day to enjoy Wine Down Wednesday. Lyle and Linda entertained us with their great music! We look forward to next week’s performance by Demi Dalida.
- Who doesn’t love a challenge? It’s been a long time since many of us participated in a spelling bee, but the FCI residents and associates have risen to the challenge! We have paired up in teams and are competing in a weekly progressive spelling bee with residents and associates from our other communities around the country. GO TEAM FCI!
- Recently two of our associates hit milestone anniversaries here at FCI. Congratulations to Betty, one of our cooks, for celebrating 5 years of service and to Chuck, one of our servers, for celebrating 10 years of service! We thank you and appreciate you.
- The spirit of FCI was very bright this week as we bonded together in colors—lots of them! Yesterday we pulled all kinds of colors out of our closets to enjoy “multiple colors day”. We shared a lot of smiles and laughs as we brightened up each other’s day.
- Two of our residents were surprised by their families this week for their birthdays! Nancy Street’s family held a drive by birthday parade that brought us happy tears, and Mary Ann’s Beard’s family made sure she knew how loved she was from afar. As you’ll see in the picture below, they staged an ENORMOUS Happy Birthday sign outside of her apartment balcony for us all to enjoy!
We thank all of you for your continued support of FCI as we navigate through this pandemic together. Our continued positive thoughts and prayers 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.
Sincerely,
Chrissy Driscoll
Executive Director