On Tuesday, we sent 146 swabs for staff and residents. We are happy to report that those tests returned today, and they were all NEGATIVE. Yesterday, we sent an additional 138 staff swabs for testing and have not yet received those results. Today, we concluded this round of testing and sent an additional 58 staff swabs. We have noted that the turn around time from our outside lab has increased. This is likely due to the volume of testing and recent spike in COVID-19 cases in our area. The current positivity rate in Androscoggin county is 3.4 for the previous 28 days. This has been steadily climbing and Androscoggin county is now an area of high community transmission. The CDC recommends masking in all indoor spaces in areas of high community transmission to limit the spread of COVID-19. We continue to strongly encourage masking, social distancing and hand hygiene for all visitors to our facility.
We will continue to post updates regarding this outbreak as we know more. We will review next steps with the CDC once we have the results of the remaining 196 staff swabs.
Stay safe and stay healthy!
