September 25, 2020
RenVilla residents and employees were tested for COVID-19 on 09/22/2020. All results have been received and are shown in the chart below. We have had 0 residents test positive for COVID-19. We had 1 employee test positive. This employee has had no contact with residents and has had extremely low contact with staff as contact is not required within the employee’s job function. We will be testing again on September 29th. Even with no new cases, community transmission rates in Renville County will require us to continue weekly testing at this point in time at skilled nursing facilities. We continue to follow all recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
| Tests Positive | Tests Negative | Tests Pending | Total Tested | |
| Residents | 0 | 37 | 0 | 37 |
| Staff | 1 | 75 | 0 | 76 |
Due to the lack of exposure to positive cases for the necessary timeframe, RHS is now able to end facility wide quarantine. Residents will be able to move about in the facility and go outside much more easily. Activities will be resuming patio time for residents with music this weekend. We are unable to resume patio visits at this time, but we are preparing to resume them as soon as possible within MDH regulations. We are also preparing for indoor visits for when the weather is colder. How we will be able to facilitate indoor visits is still in process.
Staff will continue to wear PPE and follow rigorous infection control protocols. The COVID Unit is continuing to function effectively. The staff that work on the unit have zero physical contact with the non-segregated unit/staff/residents. The unit is completely physically segregated from our buildings. Over the course of the summer, the unit has been open and taking care of positive case for 40 days. In this time, 0 staff working the unit have tested positive and 0 concerns of transmission related to the unit have occurred.
We continue to be concerned with the overwhelming amount of new cases in Renville County, surrounding counties, and across Minnesota. Thankfully, we have experience, and we have a proven process to keep residents as safe as possible. This puts us in a unique position to help our community’s most vulnerable if they test positive with our currently operational segregated unit.
Please follow our Facebook page (@Renville Health Services) for all COVID updates and information on what is happening inside our care center. If you have specific questions or concerns, please contact Casie, Administrator at 320-329-4373 or by email at cknoshal@renvilla.sfhs.org.