COVID-positive employee did not enter building
Masterpiece head says employee did not set foot in the building before test given, contracted it from outside, and residents are safe
An employee at Masterpiece Southland Meadows seniors’ residence has tested positive for COVID-19.
Paula Isfeld, vice president of care, and Tim Garforth-Bles, president Masterpiece Care Corporation, are careful to point out that it is an employee and not a resident who has tested positive.
“Since we found out about this result we have been in ongoing contact with Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services and public health,” said Isfeld. “We are working collaboratively ... to ensure they safety and health of (people in) our building.”
Investigations are taking place and Masterpiece wants to do everything it can to help ensure that all residents and people in the building are kept safe, said Isfeld.
In early March, before social isolation rules were issued by Alberta Health, Masterpiece already had strict protocols for people entering the building. As the medical officer of health introduced additional protocols these were put in place and followed strictly, said Isfeld. It is because of these measures that the positive case was identified so early.
Garforth-Bles says twice a day employees are required to complete a questionnaire about their symptoms and their temperatures are taken. It was as a result of these protocols that early symptoms, which appear to have originated from outside the building, were identified and the employee was tested.
“This employee did not make it beyond that gate,” said Garforth-Bles, noting the questionnaire revealed the person had a symptom.
“If we weren’t following what we were supposed to be doing the staff member could have been in our building, they could have been symptomatic and transferring these germs around the building,” said Isfeld. “It’s because we were doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing, that’s why we caught it.”
Garforth-Bles says the risk to others has been classified as “low” because the employee caught the virus outside the building and was turned away from the entrance.
Isfeld says they are also screening residents and taking temperatures everyday to identify immediately if someone is ill. So far there are no residents with COVID.