Update #83
25th January 2022
Dear Residents and family members,
We continue with some good news – although we still have 7 residents in Waratah positive to Covid, all other residents except for 2 residents who did not wish to be swabbed today, have returned a negative result to their Rapid Antigen Test (RAT). As advised yesterday, 2 residents have recovered well from Covid.
We can report that we are still waiting on the results of the PCR test for our resident in Jacaranda who tested positive on a RAT test on Sunday. Other residents in Jacaranda and all residents in Honeysuckle, The Hill, Nobbys and BlueGum remain well and as is usual practice, have their health and wellbeing checks twice daily.
We will continue to test residents for Covid-19 as required, under the guidance of the Public Health Unit.
It is encouraging to see the numbers of cases in the community decreasing and hear the news that this outbreak is nearing its peak. However, we do expect a further increase in community cases as schools return next week, so must not fall into the trap of complacency.
For us, the peak can’t come soon enough as we continue to experience staff shortages across the facility with some staff consistently doing double shifts and our social and engagement team and staff in other areas, re-directed to providing care support duties. I can’t thank our team enough for their diligence and for ‘staying the course’ during these difficult times. Today residents in the Lodge did experience some challenges around the dining service as our regular team members were not available and were replaced with Agency staff who are not familiar with some of our unique and individualised service arrangements. This situation was addressed as soon as Linda Winn (Director of Care) was made aware.
Due to the changing staff duties, our activities calendar has been modified and we have not been able to post photos of activities on FaceBook as often as we would like. I can advise however that residents mostly remain upbeat, feel supported and safe and although missing their visitors are understanding of the situation.
We know that connection with loved ones is important for our residents and families. If FaceTime or Zoom is not an option why not write a letter, send some photos and or ask a grandchild to draw a picture for their grandparent. These can be sent to connect@maroba.com.au and correspondence will be printed out and given to the recipient. We are also reaching out to St Phillips year 1 teachers to ask if the children would like to be pen pals and send our residents some letters and cards.
Our Premier advised today that restrictions announced earlier in the month will continue until 28 February, so we continue with restrictions in hospitality venues including no singing or dancing, masks are still required in indoor settings and QR code check-ins at certain venues. Please remember this and take care when out and about in the community especially if you intend to participate in one of the Australia Day community events tomorrow.
Once again, we received some lovely feedback and support yesterday from several members of our community and as always it is greatly appreciated.
A friendly reminder, general enquiries should be directed to the enquiries@maroba.com.au email, so that they can be redirected to the best person to address your questions and comments. If your matter is of an urgent nature, please ring Reception on (02) 4935 0300.
Stay safe and well
Yours sincerely,
Viv Allanson, CEO
2022.01.25 Coronavirus Update #83