COVID-19 UPDATE | DECEMBER 11, 2020

Friends and Family of Santa Marta,

Despite this irregular holiday season, our community remains festive knowing there are better days ahead. We continue to be inspired by the unity and strength of our residents and team members as we persevere through this unprecedented time.

Unfortunately, we today confirmed one positive case of COVID-19 among healthcare residents. The impacted individual was tested upon their return to our community on Thursday following a 17-day stay at a hospital where they contracted the virus. They are asymptomatic and are recovering in isolation. No other residents were exposed, and we are conducting contact tracing for team members.

We identified no other positive cases of COVID-19 among healthcare residents during this week’s comprehensive testing.

We also administered about 400 tests this week for all healthcare staff and are grateful to report that all results came back negative. However, there are nine previously identified cases of COVID-19 among employees, all of whom are recovering at home.

As we mentioned last week, we have resumed indoor visitations in independent living with strict safety precautions in place. We have also reopened our dining room and have resumed some activities. However, given this week’s positive healthcare resident case, outdoor visitations in healthcare have been suspended temporarily. To ensure everyone’s safety, we encourage window visits, video calls and using social media to stay connected with your loved ones.

While we are coordinating with health authorities to ensure timely vaccine distribution to our community once a vaccine receives final approval, we have no firm details regarding an expected timeline. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Please feel free to reach out to me and the rest of the Santa Marta leadership team at updates@www.santamartaretirement.com with any questions.

Thank you and God bless,

Chet Surmaczewicz

Executive Director