Per the Center for Disease Control, the outbreak of Covid-19 may be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety about a disease can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in those affected.

Stress during an infectious disease outbreak can include:
• Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones.
• Changes in sleep or eating patterns.
• Difficulty sleeping or concentrating

Here are some ways you can help cope with this stress:
• Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can be upsetting.
• Take care of your body
• Take deep breaths
• Stretch
• Eat healthy, well-balanced meals
• Exercise regularly
• Get plenty of sleep
• Try to do some other activities you enjoy.
• Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling.

Per the Center for Disease Control (CDC),Hand hygiene is an important part of the U.S. response to the international emergence of COVID-19. Practicing hand hygiene, which includes the use of alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) or handwashing, is a simple yet effective way to prevent the spread of pathogens and infections in healthcare settings. CDC recommendations reflect this important role. Please refer to the handwashing diagram (below) provided by the World Health Organization to learn how to properly and most effectively wash your hands.

Please visit our Covid-19 Support Units page to learn more about the services we are providing during this unprecedented time.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is a new infectious disease. Most people that become infected with COVID-19 will experience mild or moderate systems that affect an individual’s respiratory system. Individuals that are at greater risk for severe systems of COVID-19 are those that are older in age and those that have underlying medical problems. Some individuals with COVID-19 may be asymptomatic. Asymptomatic is when an infected person shows no signs or symptoms of the disease.

We have been doing many things to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Taking the temperature of each Care Team Member as they arrive to the facility, providing each Care Team Member and resident with personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing, proper hand washing, and educating everyone how to properly wear PPE that is being provided are ways in which we are preventing the spread of Covid-19 in our communities.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include:
• cough
• shortness of breath
Or at least 2 of these symptoms:
• fever
• chills
• repeated shaking with chills
• muscle pain

Our team is monitoring all residents for any sign or symptom of COVID-19. Once a concern arises, we are quarantining that individual and increasing our vital and wellness checks. With a physician’s order, we will then place a request for a test. Testing time can vary as it is dependent on the lab and availability of the test. Once a test result is received, any necessary next steps are taken.

In regards to the above information, isolation and quarantine are both used to help decrease the spread but are very different. Isolation is used to keep residents a part from one another. Meals, activities, therapy and other care are being provided in isolation in a Residents room. Quarantine, on the other hand, is used to place an individual that has been exposed to the infection away from other Residents.

During this time, visitation has been suspended for all family members, guests and other visitors. Only essential personnel is allowed in and out of the facility in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, we understand the difficulty and impact this has on family, friends and residents. The facility is happy to arrange other opportunities to visit with residents. We are happy to help a resident with FaceTime, Zoom meetings, Facebook Messenger calls, and other media platforms as we have supplied each of our communities with iPads for this purpose. If you would like to schedule this type of communication, please call the facility and you will be directed to the appropriate Care Team Member. Once notified, we will help any resident with technology or with any adaptive equipment they may need. We are also happy to coordinate window visits and drive through parades to help lessen the strain of visitor restrictions. As always, we encourage notes and letters to be dropped off or sent.

For more information regarding COVID-19 please visit CDC.gov or http://www.coronavirus.in.gov and continue following our COVID-19 updates here.