Dear Family and Friends of South Cove Manor:
As I had said in my email to you yesterday, we are required to complete new baseline COVID-19 testing on all residents and staff members by July 19
th. We began formulating a plan on Wednesday when this guidance and regulation was published by the Department of Public Health, and have finalized our plans today.
We will be collecting samples from residents on Monday, July 6
th. From our previous experience, this sample collection will take a few hours, and we plan to send the resident samples to our lab on Monday evening. Results could take anywhere from 3-5 days to be returned to us. We will notify all residents and families of the results as soon as we receive them.
In addition to collecting the resident samples on Monday, we will also be collecting staff samples on Thursday, July 9
th. We will accomplish this in the same manner we gathered samples in April, with outdoor, drive-up/walk-up testing stations in our parking lot. These samples will also take 3-5 days to process, and we will notify all staff of their individual results as soon as we receive them. In addition, we will communicate the aggregate results of our staff tests with resident families.
As was the case in April, all samples will be gathered by properly trained South Cove Manor nursing staff.
Based on the results of this round of baseline testing, we will then develop our surveillance testing protocols. We will also share that methodology with all residents, families, and staff members once it is established.
Thank you again for placing your trust in South Cove Manor.
