Rapid Testing Underway As Heritage Works To Contain COVID-19 Uptick


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Heritage Works To Contain COVID-19 ...

GERRY – Rapid COVID-19 testing is underway at two local nursing homes as healthcare officials are working to contain an uptick in COVID-19 cases at the facilities.

Heritage Ministries President and CEO Lisa Haglund tells WNY News Now as of 10:30 a.m. Monday less than 30 residents and employees at Heritage Green and Village, in Greenhurst and Gerry respectively, have tested positive.





More employees than residents have tested positive, however, Haglund could not give specific numbers due to HIPAA laws. She says right now the infected population is under two percent.

Haglund says Heritage first noticed the increase in the last 24-hours.

“We really started noticing enough of an employee uptick, we got one positive result back from the lab on a resident, and so then we proactively started calling the labs and doing our own testing internally, implementing all the measures we prepared in the background,” says Haglund.





















She says aside from one or two residents and employees testing positive throughout the pandemic, this is the first-time local Heritage facilities have seen a significant uptick in cases.

“Not only did we increase our strategy around infection control, every time we have had a new outbreak, we are proactive,” said Haglund. “We’ve worked with local, state and federal regulators to immediately go though and proactively test employees and residents so we can stay ahead of the curve.”

Haglund says the rapid testing started over the weekend and will continue until all cases are identified.

Heritage Ministries operates facilities around the nation, including five locations in Chautauqua County.









 

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