The County of Santa Cruz Public Health Division has completed assessments of local skilled nursing facilities and nursing homes to prevent the spread of contagious COVID-19.
As of Thursday, there were 114 reported COVID-19 cases in Santa Cruz County, but none among skilled nursing facility residents.
“The success of our local COVID-19 response is dependent on the readiness of our healthcare facilities,” says Michelle Meszaros, the lead Public Health nurse for the skilled nursing facility assessments.
Outbreaks of COVID-19 and fatalities have occurred at nursing homes in California and long-term care facilities in Washington State as medically-vulnerable individuals living in close quarters are at higher risk.
Public Health staff have visited facilities, assessed needs for safety measures and provided guidance, and are prepared to direct additional public health resources should an outbreak occur.
On March 20, Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel issued a no-visitation order at residential health care facilities throughout Santa Cruz County. The order has since been extended indefinitely and covers all visitation other than end-of-life situations.
In early April, Public Health developed a seven-member team of Communicable Disease Unit staff to coordinated and complete on-site assessments of each of the seven skilled nursing facilities in Santa Cruz County.
This team worked with skilled-nursing staff on reviewing the facility’s capacity for isolation and quarantine of residents, reviewing their process for managing staff and/or residents with COVID-19, and ensuring each facility had policies in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.