BRISTOL – Ingraham Manor representatives reported Thursday they have contained and are working to prevent the further spread of an outbreak of covid among residents and employees.
According to Ingraham Manor Administrator Ashley Sokya, after Easter there was a transmission of covid within the Bristol Health long-term care and rehabilitation facility.
“Unfortunately, several residents who had visitors later reported that they were covid positive, so we did have some residents who were diagnosed with covid-19,” she said. “Since learning that we’ve had covid positive residents, we’ve enhanced some of our environmental cleaning.”
Twenty-six staff members since April 18 reported having covid. Some of those are thought to have caught the virus while in the community and not necessarily work, but Ingraham Manor leadership has kept an eye on them. In total, 37 residents tested positive with covid. The administrator noted that two residents had died over the course of the outbreak and both had other underlying conditions who chose to not go to the hospital for treatment.
“We believe that at this time, the covid outbreak is contained,” she said. “We currently have seven patients who meet the need for isolation and we only have one staff member who has not returned to work at this time.”
Ingraham Manor’s staff vaccination rate is 96.2% and staff booster rate is 94.9%.
In prevention efforts, the staff utilizes an ultraviolet light producing machine to help disinfecting areas. Ingraham Manor makes use of surveillance testing of staff and residents on a regular basis, regardless of vaccination status, to identify cases prior to symptom display.
“Many residents have no symptoms during their full course of covid or the first few days of being covid positive,” said Sokya. “Once we identify residents who have covid, we move them to a covid isolation area for a minimum of 10 days but that could be extended depending on their immune status and the severity of their symptoms.”
If employees report a positive covid result, they are sent home and follow up with Bristol Health’s occupational health professionals in order to receive clearance to return to work.
Soyka said that the version of covid that had been passing through Ingraham Manor seemed more contagious but that symptoms were not as severe.
“We’re still screening visitors and staff who enter the building every day. We’re still isolating new residents who come from the outside because we know there’s a chance they could have covid, despite their vaccination status,” said the administrator.
She said government oversight has said the facility cannot restrict visitors at this time.
“Sometimes control of the virus moving through the building can be difficult because visitors are still coming in and seeing their loved ones and we saw that after Easter that they can potentially bring covid into the building,” said Soyka. “It’s important for the community to be aware of that and the risk in a congregate setting.”
Bristol Health continues to keep its mask mandate for staff in place and when visitors come to the hospital.
“We continue to take all precautions,” said Johnny Burnham, Bristol Health Public Relations Manager. “This could have gone rampant but the folks at Ingraham responded pretty quickly to get this under control so it didn’t spread throughout the whole facility.”
Bristol Health continues to focus on protecting those it serves and staff, he said, and many long-term care facilities face the same challenges.
Federal health professionals continue to say that covid is a concern and encourage U.S. citizens to take appropriate precautions as medical professionals continue to push vaccination research in order to keep up with the latest strain of covid variants.
Posted in The Bristol Press, Bristol on Thursday, 12 May 2022 14:30. Updated: Thursday, 12 May 2022 14:32.
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