COVID-19 UPDATE | October 16, 2020

Friends and Family of Santa Marta,

Several months into the pandemic, it’s reassuring that we have yet to have any positive cases of COVID-19 among residents at our community. This speaks to the dedicated efforts of our staff, who continue to implement appropriate precautions and procedures to keep the virus at bay. Our residents’ full cooperation and support for these measures have also undoubtedly contributed to this encouraging outcome.

Accordingly, we identified no active cases of COVID-19 among healthcare residents during the latest round of proactive weekly testing.

Among the 198 healthcare team members who were tested on Tuesday, all were negative except one. Contact tracing has been completed and it has been determined that this employee had no close interactions with any residents or staff. Altogether, there are six team members currently impacted by the virus. All individuals are safely isolating at home and we wish them a speedy recovery.

As per guidance from local health authorities, this newly identified case of COVID-19 pushes back the resumption of healthcare visitations for 14 days to prevent potential spread of the virus. Despite this setback, we continue to finalize our plan for welcoming families and loved ones back to our community and look forward to receiving approval from Johnson County health officials soon. Your continued patience and understanding as we work through this process is very much appreciated. We will share additional updates in our weekly website and Facebook posts.

In the meantime, window visits, video calls and social media are the safest methods of staying connected with your loved ones. Outdoor visits for independent living are ongoing as usual.

Please feel free to contact 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