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Getting personal for me, as I assume it is for others...my post to Facebook from Wednesday:
Got a call from the senior facility where my 91 and 90 year old parents live this morning. My dad had a mild fever and headache last night, resolved with Tylenol, but seemed to have some mild congestion...so he's on 14 day isolation, and the state board of health was arriving this afternoon to swab him for COVID, chest x-rays for him and some other residents, etc. Result was phone tag for me for hour trying to line up MD orders for the testing because his geriatrician's office is closed due to COVID concerns.
After she described my dad's situation,the director revealed something more ominous. Two residents in the memory care unit where my mom now lives tested COVID positive in the past week. The facility has been closed to outside visitors since March 17, and the on-site independent/assisted living dining rooms, exercise room/PT gym, salon, etc. also closed. All independent and assisted residents have been eating in their units since then. Everybody on the site has their temperature taken three times per day, along with being evaluated by a nurse/aide.
The memory care folks must eat in a common area, as the rooms are very small and most residents have no room for a table. They also have many residents who need assistance with eating, and in the case of my mom, the staff has to directly interact with her all the time as she is confined to her wheelchair, and needs assistance with bathing, dressing, etc. etc. There is going to be frequent contact day in, day out and those folks cannot self-isolate.
I was able to talk to my dad this afternoon, and he says he pretty much feels fine, no fever, perhaps a mild headache, and maybe a bit of congestion.
My take is that there was little else the facility could have done. It is managed by a firm that handles quite a few senior sites throughout the country, and they are being advised by experts in how to respond. Still, it's clear that this virus is being shed by asymptomatic people, and they obviously cannot sequester staff on site for the duration.
So we wait and see. My dad's results should be available Friday, when we also expect my mom's biopsy results from an obvious carcinoma on her arm. I wonder how soon it will be possible to get her out of the facility to get that tumor removed...she is not likely to leave there without my dad, who normally accompanies her on the facility's transport.
Got a call from the senior facility where my 91 and 90 year old parents live this morning. My dad had a mild fever and headache last night, resolved with Tylenol, but seemed to have some mild congestion...so he's on 14 day isolation, and the state board of health was arriving this afternoon to swab him for COVID, chest x-rays for him and some other residents, etc. Result was phone tag for me for hour trying to line up MD orders for the testing because his geriatrician's office is closed due to COVID concerns.
After she described my dad's situation,the director revealed something more ominous. Two residents in the memory care unit where my mom now lives tested COVID positive in the past week. The facility has been closed to outside visitors since March 17, and the on-site independent/assisted living dining rooms, exercise room/PT gym, salon, etc. also closed. All independent and assisted residents have been eating in their units since then. Everybody on the site has their temperature taken three times per day, along with being evaluated by a nurse/aide.
The memory care folks must eat in a common area, as the rooms are very small and most residents have no room for a table. They also have many residents who need assistance with eating, and in the case of my mom, the staff has to directly interact with her all the time as she is confined to her wheelchair, and needs assistance with bathing, dressing, etc. etc. There is going to be frequent contact day in, day out and those folks cannot self-isolate.
I was able to talk to my dad this afternoon, and he says he pretty much feels fine, no fever, perhaps a mild headache, and maybe a bit of congestion.
My take is that there was little else the facility could have done. It is managed by a firm that handles quite a few senior sites throughout the country, and they are being advised by experts in how to respond. Still, it's clear that this virus is being shed by asymptomatic people, and they obviously cannot sequester staff on site for the duration.
So we wait and see. My dad's results should be available Friday, when we also expect my mom's biopsy results from an obvious carcinoma on her arm. I wonder how soon it will be possible to get her out of the facility to get that tumor removed...she is not likely to leave there without my dad, who normally accompanies her on the facility's transport.
