ROCKVILLE, Md. — For 10 days, The Village at Rockville staff has been monitoring residents for the novel coronavirus after someone who tested positive visited a shiva there in February.
The team shared good news over the weekend that they found no evidence of COVID-19 cases in the facility.
Executive Director Kyle Hreben said on March 6 that as many as 100 people, mostly from outside of the retirement community, could have been exposed when one of Montgomery County's first three positive cases attended a shiva the Village was hosting on Friday, February 28.
Hreben said the health department assured them the risk of contracting the virus was low for the few residents who were at the event, or any of the other 300+ who live there. But, the health department still told them to monitor residents until March 13.
“Since that time, we continued to follow all federal and state-required monitoring, and we have closed out that monitoring period," Hreben said.
He said they checked residents twice daily for signs or symptoms of the novel coronavirus, like coughing or a fever. Hreben said there are also more than 300 team members who look after the residents, so each of them has been screened as well.
Even with the "all clear", as a retirement community, The Village at Rockville houses the population most vulnerable to contracting a severe form of the virus. So, Hreben said they're staying diligent.
“[We are continuing] our single point entry and monitoring team members and continuous education around our infectious prevention program and making sure we’re monitoring our residents and team members on an ongoing basis," Hreben said.
He said the biggest challenge is staying on top of everything in an unprecedented time that is changing rapidly.
“I think we just continue to work hard at safeguarding our community and working with our federal and state partners," he said.
Hreben said they will continue to take direction from the local and state health departments as updates come in regularly.
“We’re just being as diligent as we can," he said.
Staff said visits are still limited to "essential visitors," meaning health care providers who are needed to attend to a resident's change in medical condition. They said other visitors, like friends and family, are checking on their loved ones via Facetime and Skype.
