An employee has tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the Marquis Hope Village assisted living facility, families were informed Wednesday.
In June, Marquis Hope Village was the site of the state’s second largest Covid-19 outbreak at a senior care home, which eventually grew to include 112 confirmed cases and 11 deaths.
Fortunately, that outbreak was contained to the adjacent post-acute rehab center. Testing in early June confirmed that the virus had not spread to the assisted living home, which located in the same building and licensed for up to 84 residents.
That outbreak was considered resolved as of late July, with no remaining active cases of the virus remaining at the facility.
Marquis Companies, which owns the facility on the campus of the Hope Village Senior Living Community, informed families about the new staff result in a communication to residents and their responsible parties on Aug. 12.
The facility reported that the employee who tested positive has not been in the facility since Friday, Aug. 7, when they first showed symptoms. They will not be allowed to return until being cleared by a physician, Marquis said.
All staff and residents were tested on Monday, and no other positive results were reported.
“We continue to actively monitor all residents for Covid-19 symptoms,” the company’s Aug. 12 message said. “As a reminder, all facility staff are screened daily before their shifts and have been wearing medical grade face masks during their shifts since the end of March. We have also required all assisted living staff to wear N95s and eye protection.”
The facility said it will continue to test all staff and residents on a weekly basis for the next two weeks to ensure the virus has not spread. The assisted living facility currently houses 69 residents and 46 staff members, Marquis reported this week.
The neighboring post-acute rehab center — where the outbreak was contained in June — has approximately 100 staff members and 35 residents.
Though anyone can be sickened by Covid-19, those who are older and have underlying medical conditions are at much greater risk for serious complications or death.
Of the state’s 375 Covid-related deaths reported as of Wednesday, roughly 60 percent were residents in a long-term care facility. All but 11 were 50 or older.
