COVID SPECIAL UPDATE
February 7 2022
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Hello Everyone,
 
Hope everyone had a nice weekend. It was certainly nice to see the bright sunshine!
 
We received the expanded document from the Ministry later on Friday afternoon as to the swabbing/screening requirements for residents taking part in the social day absences from the Home. We have put a lot of thought into how to apply this at JMPC in a manner that is as consistent as possible given the tracking that will be required for staff to support this requirement.
 
Residents who have had at least 3 COVID vaccine doses are permitted to participate on social absences. The designated essential caregiver that is taking them out will need to do the screening including the Rapid Antigen test prior to picking up their resident. 
 
Residents will be provided with a mask at the screening desk prior to leaving. They will also be provided a pocket guide explaining the precautions they should take when out in the community.
 
Upon their return from the social day absence, residents will need to have a Rapid Antigen test on Day 2 following their social day absence and then a PCR test on Day 5 following their absence. Residents will not be isolated for any time following their outing unless one of their tests are positive or they develop any symptoms. 
For residents who will be going out frequently each week, they will need to have one rapid antigen test and one PCR test per week.
 
If a resident becomes a close contact while on their outing, the Home needs to be alerted to this very quickly so that the resident can be isolated upon their return to the Home and not pose a risk to other residents within the Home. The resident who had the close contact will be isolated for 5 days, have a PCR on Day 5 and then if the test is negative, can come out of isolation on Day 6.
 
While residents are out on their social day absence, it is important that they wear a mask as much as possible, be mindful of physical distancing, not be in large social gatherings, use hand sanitizer and not be around individuals who are not fully vaccinated.
 
A resident living in a communal setting such as JMPC, does require all of you to be extra diligent with these important precautions when taking a resident on an outing as all of the residents at the Home can be impacted by an exposure in the community. 
 
Sincerely,
Angela Malcolm