March 30, 2020
Yesterday, the CBC reported that this coming week will be a crucial time during which public health officials will start to see if the aggressive physical distancing measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus are working. Dr. Theresa Tam said she is keeping a close eye on Ontario, Quebec and Alberta – provinces where the coronavirus is spreading within the community – to see if there will be a decrease in the rate of new confirmed cases, as British Columbia has seen.
Experts are telling us that we are now at a critical point in Canada’s fight against the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, in an abundance of caution and with our residents’ health in mind, we have made the decision to isolate all residents to their suites for a period of two weeks, beginning Tuesday, March 31. At this time, we believe that this is the right precautionary measure to keep our residents and staff safe.
What does this mean for you/your loved one? Seasons will conduct daily temperature and wellness checks on all residents. We will deliver all meals to residents’ suites. Your individual home will advise you about mealtimes and options, as well as provide information on laundry schedules and housekeeping services. Today, we provided all residents with a helpful Q&A document to answer additional questions we thought they might have.
We are aware of the challenges this may pose for residents living in Alberta Supportive Living suites or in memory care; we will do our best to gently redirect residents with cognitive impairments and will continue to promote social distancing and frequent hand washing and sanitizing.
We know that isolation can be very difficult for our residents and we are committed to ensuring people remain engaged and connected. We will provide activities that are self-directed or one-on-one with our staff, or programming where residents can safely participate from their open doorway or by telephone.
Finally, we know that these measures will make life at Seasons very different than what you are used to. We sincerely appreciate your support and cooperation. Like you, we look forward to returning to entirely normal operations as soon as it is safe to do so.
We know these are complicated times and I understand that you may be worried. Please rest assured that we remain vigilant in our infection control policies and procedures. All decisions are being made with our staff and residents’ best interests in mind.
Thank you for the trust you have placed in Seasons Retirement Communities.
Sincerely,
LeighAnne Voll,
Chief Operating Officer
For an update on COVID-19 at Seasons, please click here.
For additional online resources for COVID-19 you can visit the following sites:
Canada Health
Alberta Health
Alberta Health Services
Public Health Ontario
Retirement Home Regulatory Authority