Residents of assisted-living facilities relish their time spent visiting family members and socializing with friends while sharing a table for a meal or participating in an activity.
The COVID-19 pandemic has prohibited or curtailed nearly all of those interactions.
The novel coronavirus has forced major changes in the house procedures for residents and staff at Santa Barbara-area facilities, given the dangerous potential for the virus to spread in congregate-living facilities.
As of Wednesday, three COVID-19 cases and one death have been reported in Santa Barbara assisted-living facilities.
Residents in assisted-living facilities and retirement communities are following social-distancing guidelines and wearing masks; meals are being served in rooms as dining areas have been closed; family visits are done primarily using teleconferencing; and residents, employees and essential visitors to the facilities undergo screening for virus symptoms.
It’s all done to protect the health of the residents and staff.
“Covenant Living at the Samarkand is conducting a screening of all employees reporting to work at our community within all levels of living — residential and healthcare (assisted living and skilled nursing),” Directer Laurie Small said. “The screening also includes any visitor or contractor/vendor who come to our communities.
“The screening consists of answering a health assessment questionnaire and also a temperature screening.
“We also keep a log of everyone who has been screened. If the visitor, employee or contractor fails in any area of the screening, they will not be allowed to enter. We have also been urging all residential living residents to self-restrict any guests, including family members.”
Susan J. Turkell, spokesperson for Villa Santa Barbara, said visitors are not permitted at this time.
“The safety of our residents, staff and families remain the highest priority, and we are following all guidelines set forth by the state of California and our management team,” she said.
Turkell noted that the majority of their residents have cell phones and are able to communicate with their families on a daily basis.
Activities for residents have been adapted to make sure social distancing is followed.
“Residents are taking healthy walks, doing chair exercises, playing bingo and cards, participating in sing-alongs, Spanish class, crocheting hour, movie night and painting, all while maintaining the required distance and using protective masks,” Turkell explained. “Before the outbreak, activities were offered and encouraged similarly but social distancing is now enforced.”
At Covenant Living, the residents watch in-house television channels for fitness classes and entertainment. Before the pandemic, they’d attend guest lecturers, go to the fitness center, and go on shopping trips and group excursions to museums.
“Anything you can imagine, they were doing it,” Small said.
The residents did a fun social-distancing activity a few weeks ago, which can be viewed on YouTube.
“We asked the residents to come out to their balconies and into their yards so we could film them saying hello and showing love to each other and to the world,” said Small. “They wrote and sang songs, did skits, dressed up and were their wonderful, loving, fun and happy selves.
“This video the residents participated in is a true reflection of their resolve, sense of community and making the best of the situation,” Small said. “Our residents understand all of the restrictions are for their own safety, and appreciate everything our employees are doing to care for and serve them.”
Even with all the precautions, a healthcare employee at Samarkand’s Assisted Living Dementia area tested positive for COVID-19 on April 3, Small said.
“That employee is at home in self-isolation. There are no other cases of the COVID-19 virus,” she said.
“As a matter of protocol, we have been in contact with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, and are working closely with them regarding additional guidance on infection-control protocols in addition to those we already have in place,” she added.
“Additionally, and as a precaution, we have retrained all of our employees on identifying any symptoms consistent with COVID-19, and the proper use of PPE (personal protective equipment), and increased disinfection and cleaning within all of the healthcare center.”
The Maravilla retirement community in Goleta last week announced that a third-party hospice worker and a resident in hospice care tested positive for COVID-19. The resident passed away just as the test results were released.
Ruth Grande, the executive director for Maravilla, said in a statement that the third-party hospice care worker who had been attending to several residents within their Assisted Living and Memory Care units reported their symptoms to their supervisor and the worker was last within the Maravilla community on April 6.
Grande said it was unclear if COVID-19 contributed to the resident’s death.
All of the employees who were in prolonged contact with the residents who had been exposed were being tested for the virus, Grande said.
She confirmed that the employees were wearing face masks and taking precautionary measures while working with the residents.
Maravilla instituted tighter precautions to protect residents, including limiting visitors; screening all essential visitors and employees; and taking temperatures daily of residents receiving care services.
Grande said residents who decide to leave the community for a non-essential reason are asked to stay with a loved one outside Maravilla or self-isolate within their Maravilla residence for 14 days when they return.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.