Dear Patients, Families and Community:
I hope you are having a nice start to your week. I am writing to share the most current information on the status of COVID-19 at Manassas Health & Rehab Center.
COVID-19
As of today, we have no new cases of COVID-19 in the Center. I am pleased to share that we have cleared the most recent outbreak and have begun admitting new patients. Since August, a total of 19 patients and 13 staff members have tested positive for the virus.
Mitigation
The Virginia Department of Health announced on December 4, 2020 that they expect to receive 480,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of December as part of the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed. This supply will be from both Pfizer and Moderna, both of which are seeking Emergency Use Authorization for the vaccine from the FDA this month. VDH believes that this amount will be an adequate supply to vaccinate healthcare personnel and long-term care facility residents.
Based on what we know now, a team from Walgreens will come onsite to vaccinate both staff and patients. While we have received initial information from the pharmacy, dates for vaccine “clinics” have not yet been established for our Center. We will be providing more information to you, including the vaccine clinic dates once we know more. In the meantime, I have attached document from The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine which provides questions and answers about the COVID-19 vaccine. Click here to read the document!
Any patients or their representatives (if a patient is not their own responsible party) who know now that they would like for the patient to receive the COVID-19 vaccine can contact the social services department to let us know about your wishes. We will also provide a consent form for signature by the patient/patient representative once we receive the finalized copy from the pharmacy.
Testing
This week’s COVID-19 positivity rate for Prince William County as reported by VDH has increased to 13.4%. Based on this rate, staff members will continue to be tested twice weekly, and patients will be tested as needed.
PPE
There is an adequate supply of PPE in the Center. In addition to securing our own supply of PPE, from time to time we receive shipments of PPE items from government agencies and organizations. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management Disaster Logistics provided notification that they will shipping PPE for the sustained operations and response to COVID-19.
Visitation
We are planning holiday activities and will be providing more information in the coming weeks about visitation opportunities for the holidays. We continue to offer scheduled virtual visitation and will resume outdoor visitation, weather permitting.
Thank You
We are excited and encouraged to hear that a COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available, which provides hope that we may all resume normal life in 2021. We are grateful for this medical advancement, and we remain grateful for the opportunity to provide care to our patients. As always, feel free to reach out to me directly with concerns or questions.
Sincerely,
Katelyn Whittington, LNHA
Administrator
