Staff at Country Side Living reported two new positive test results for the novel coronavirus Friday, one in a resident and one in an employee. The total number of cases linked to the privately owned facility specializing in memory care is now seven: four residents and three staff.
The new resident case was tested off-site at the request of their primary care provider. They have since been cleared to return to Country Side by the Oregon Department of Human Services, which licenses and oversees long-term care facilities.
According to facility spokeswoman Michele Quinn, all of the cases remain isolated in Country Side North, the larger of their two buildings on Northwest 2nd Avenue. The buildings are both licensed care facilities and generally operate as one, but are physically separated and divided by North Fir Street.
Staff assigned to the north building are not being allowed to enter Country Side South, and vice versa, to mitigate the risk of spreading the virus. This strategy of isolating an infection to one of the two buildings has been used successfully in past outbreaks of other illnesses, Quinn said.
Other measures being taken to reduce the spread are assigning designated caregivers to Covid-positive residents and the use of full personal protective equipment, including masks, face shields, gowns and gloves. Staff who test positive are being instructed to self-isolate for 14 days.
North building employees who are concerned about the possibility of being exposed to the virus and spreading it to their loved ones or the community have been offered the use of Thelma’s Place, the affiliated day respite program that has been suspended since last month by order of Governor Kate Brown.
Thelma’s Place, which is accessible to Country Side North via a closed courtyard, has a private employees’ area where staff can shower and change into fresh clothes before leaving campus.
The outbreak began Sunday with the facility’s first confirmed case, in a resident who was transported by Canby Fire to the hospital, where they remained for several days. Quinn said the resident’s condition is much improved, and they have also been cleared to return to Country Side.
