COVID-19 UPDATE – DECEMBER 23, 2020

Friends and Family of Santa Marta,

With Christmas just two days away, the holiday spirit is alive and well at our community. This year’s unusual festive season has brought our blessings into focus. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we are grateful to have the support of our residents, colleagues, families and loved ones.

Thankfully, we have no new positive cases of COVID-19 among healthcare residents. Our latest round of testing for all healthcare residents was completed on Tuesday and results are pending.

We also tested all healthcare staff as usual. While some results are pending, we regretfully uncovered four new positive cases – two health care professionals and two in maintenance and housekeeping – and we are actively working on contact tracing. This brings the total number of cases among Santa Marta employees to seven, all of whom are recovering at home.

Pending results for residents and team members will be shared in future updates.

In addition to reopening our dining room, indoor visitations and some activities are ongoing in independent living with safety precautions in place. We are encouraged by strong participation among residents, who are enjoying the resumption of some normalcy. Outdoor visitations in healthcare remain temporarily suspended out of an abundance of caution. We recommend window visits, video calls and using social media to stay connected with your loved ones.

As the vaccine rollout continues nationwide, we are still awaiting direction from the CDC. We will notify you when a vaccination timeline for Santa Marta is in place. In the meantime, we are coordinating with healthcare authorities to ensure timely vaccine distribution once dates are confirmed.

Unless there are major developments, our next update will be shared on Wednesday, December 30. 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.

As we celebrate and reflect on God’s blessings this Christmas, we dedicate the following prayer to offer solace and hope during this unprecedented period.

Lord,

I commit my day today – all of it – to you. Please give me strength and courage to get through the joys, challenges, and happenings of the day.  I thank you for my life and for all that I have; I give this day to you. No matter what happens, I know you have me in the palm of your hand.

In Jesus’ name I pray. 

Amen.

We wish you all a safe and Merry Christmas.

Thank you and God bless,

Chet Surmaczewicz

Executive Director