ROANOKE, Va. – From the outside, you wouldn’t know the South Roanoke Nursing Home is dealing with four cases of COVID-19.
Inside; however, is what spokesperson Jennifer Eddy describes as a very aggressive effort to prevent the virus from spreading.
“We know enough to know the industry doesn’t know enough about how this illness spreads and the best ways to contain it yet, so we’re being very, very aggressive in all of our protocols," said Eddy. "We are checking temperatures of anybody who has been exposed to anybody who then later became sick every four hours and we are doing everything we can to monitor. We’ve increased cleaning, we’ve isolated different groups of people.”
The nursing home is also working with the Virginia Department of Health to get coronavirus testing kits to test all staff members and residents.
Brookdale Senior Living in Danville also has multiple people who have tested positive for the virus, including one person who died, which may have been caused by the virus..
According to a statement to 10 News, the person’s cause of death was still pending as of Tuesday.
Like South Roanoke Nursing Home, Brookdale Senior Living also has established policies and procedures, which we’re told are being closely followed.
The statement says residents and associates are being diligently monitored and the facility is working with the health department to make sure everyone has the care they need.
If you have a family member in a nursing home, AARP recommends asking six questions, including has anyone tested positive there, how are people being screened, and if you can have virtual visits.
“It’s very important, particularly for older residents, those with memory issues, to be able to see their loved ones when they can’t have visitors," AARP Virginia spokesperson Ginger Thompson said.
If any information you receive makes you concerned, AARP suggests reaching out to the state’s long-term care ombudsman office, which advocates for people receiving long-term care.