WATERTOWN, NY —Â On Wednesday, June 24, Samaritan Health received notice one staff member at Samaritan Keep Home, in one of our training classes, tested positive for COVID-19.
The staff member had been tested four times prior and has been negative until now. The staff member has been asymptomatic all along and was unaware they had the virus. They will be quarantined for 14 days and retested before they begin to train again.
This staff member has had no interaction with residents, as they were in classroom training. Any other staff members who came in contact with this individual will be notified and screened for COVID-19 symptoms diligently.
The risk to residents is minimal because of universal face mask use and heightened emphasis on proper hand washing.
This is the fifth positive test result and fourth positive staff member at Samaritan Keep Home. All residents of the Keep Home who are willing to be tested have been, and all have been negative for COVID-19.
Samaritan has performed more than 5,000 COVID-19 tests on long-term care staff members and has only received six positive test results from five employees.
Samaritan is taking this new development very seriously and following all New York State Department of Health directives regarding testing and contact tracing to minimize exposure.
Samaritan has notified resident families.