Mark your calendar for Tuesday, February 9th. That is the date Park Manor residents and staff will get their second Moderna COVID vaccine. Residents had very few minor side effects as a result of the first vaccine and indications from those who have had their second vaccine is the side effects were no worse than the first vaccine. We look forward to completing the vaccination series at Park Manor and highly encourage all families, friends and community members to get the vaccine when it becomes available to them. Marshfield Clinic-Park Falls Center is currently vaccinating. Please contact them regarding your eligibility to be vaccinated.
As the COVID vaccine becomes more available and Park Manor staff and residents complete their vaccine series, many residents and family members ask us if things will return to “normal” soon. The quick answer to that question is probably not. Our contact with health officials at the federal and state government levels tell us it could be months before our daily activities at Park Manor are the same as they were pre-COVID. Until the majority of the population in the United States gets vaccinated and the level of COVID infections slow down, the risk of infection or reinfection for those at high risk (senior citizens, individuals with chronic health conditions) is still high. While the vaccine provides high levels of immunity, it is not 100%. So while life will not be “normal”, as COVID continues to subside in Price County we will be starting to provide limited visits to family members of residents in the next weeks. Social distancing, masks, temperature checks and routine hand washing will be part of our days and visits will be limited in frequency and duration but it will be great to get families and residents back together again! We will also require any individual visiting a resident to have a COVID rapid test done to assure they do not have COVID before they visit.
As a result of routine testing this week, we identified an asymptomatic resident that lives on the 800 wing as COVID positive. The resident was moved to our Woodlands COVID quarantine unit and the 800 wing was put in precautionary quarantine. There were no staff with positive COVID test results. As of today all other staff and residents are COVID free and not in precautionary quarantine.
Until our outbreak is over, we will continue with our COVID-19 infection control processes to minimize the risk of any further spread of COVID-19 to our residents and staff. These include daily health screening of all staff, enhanced cleaning, use of PPE by all staff and residents, extra resident symptom screening, increased hand washing/sanitizing, social distancing of residents during activities and limited visiting. Our twice per week COVID testing will continue until Park Manor has 14 days with no positive tests. The county positive test rate this week is stable at 6.6%.
Keep in touch with your Park Manor resident this month! Contact Park Manor activities department to schedule a window or social media visit or Georgiana Fischer, social worker, if you would like to be considered for a compassionate care visit.
Please feel free to contact Park Manor administration should you have any questions. Also, continue to watch for routine updates at www.parkmanorwi.com or our Facebook page Park Manor Ltd.
