As COVID-19 continues to spread, we hear one question more than any other from both our current and prospective residents: is assisted living safe?
Seniors are at the highest level of risk from the novel coronavirus. It’s natural that there are major questions about whether senior living is safe for them during this time. Frightening news reports from some states can make it sound as though all senior living residences are hot spots for viral disease. Thankfully, this is not the case; assisted living is still a safe option for most seniors.
Assisted Living Safety During the Coronavirus
It’s true that there have been some senior living facilities where the novel Coronavirus has spread quickly. In most of these, the spread of the virus can be traced back to a lack of good safety measures. In response, senior living companies around the country have now taken swift action to introduce science-backed safety protocols to protect residents and staff.
The main safety recommendations for senior citizens and others during this pandemic are simple and easy to follow. They include:
- Washing hands often (both residents and staff) or making use of hand sanitizer
- Practicing physical distancing by staying 6 feet away from others whenever possible
- Staying home from places where people gather, like churches and stores
- Wearing masks to protect others from the germs that we exhale with our breath
- Checking every day for symptoms such as fever or cough
- Going through a period of quarantine after any exposure or symptoms
Along with these steps, the CDC and other organizations have issued detailed safety guides for senior living residences. These explain the best ways to clean and sanitize living areas and the best practices for helping staff, visitors, and others to stay healthy and safe.
Because following this advice may lead to more isolation for our residents, we are taking proactive steps to help with loneliness and depression through more access to one-on-one services and enrichment opportunities.
To protect our high-risk population, we are helping all residents and staff members to follow these policies. We have also introduced special rules for visitors. Click here to get more details and read our frequently asked questions about our COVID management plan.
Is Assisted Living Safe From Shortages?
You may have heard from friends or family that they are having trouble getting access to some things. There are concerns about finding enough cleaning supplies, hygiene supplies, medicines, personal protective equipment (PPE), and so on.
It is true that there have been national shortages of all of these. Many of these shortages have to do with the fact that businesses and private households do not buy from the same suppliers. As businesses have temporarily shut down, household buying has gone up. Many shortages are being caused by this growth in demand.
We buy directly from our suppliers instead of at the store. Therefore, we are not competing for resources in the same way. Currently, we are not experiencing any shortages. We have also taken steps to ensure that we will continue to be able to stock everything our residents need in the future.
Assisted Living is Still Safe
Because of these and many other steps, we are proud to say that as of this writing, we currently have zero cases of COVID-19 at any of our properties. While we can’t promise that there will never be a case of illness among our residents or staff in the future, we do feel confident that we are doing everything we can to prevent a dangerous outbreak of viral illness and protect our most high-risk citizens.
As we go through this storm together, we thank you for your continued support and trust. We pledge to continue to do everything that we can to create a safe, secure, and happy home for each and every one of our residents.
Would you like to learn more about daily life at New Haven Assisted Living? Click here now to schedule a digital tour.
