DAYTON—An employee working in the Booker Rest Home tested positive for COVID-19 last week, which led to mandatory testing of all staff and all residents on Friday, November 20, and again the following Monday.

Columbia County Health System CEO Shane McGuire said the recent uptick of positive cases in the community would place an additional strain on the ability to protect nursing home residents and other vulnerable populations.

On Sunday, the Columbia County Public Health reported 16 positive cases throughout the community.

“The community may not realize it, but when our infection rate goes up, it significantly impacts the residents of Booker Rest Home and all the amazing folks who work there, with mandated testing and lockdown procedures for the residents.”

Because of the recent uptick in community cases, Booker Rest Home employees will now undergo testing twice a week. Nursing home residents will no longer receive the one visitor they were allowed under the safe opening plan.

McGuire said, “This directly impacts the residents’ quality of life, especially over the Thanksgiving holiday.”

Good Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) protocols, proper hand sanitizing, restricting visitation, frequent testing, and staff diligence have all contributed to keeping the nursing home safe.

“I want to say the staff of Booker Rest Home, the Health System, and Medical staff have done an amazing job of protecting our residents,” he said.

McGuire said Chief of Staff Dr. Kyle Terry works closely with an infectious disease physician at the University of Washington, and CCHS is closely aligned with those practices. There are quarantine protocols in place.

If a CCHS employee tests positive, their co-workers and anyone they have been in contact with are placed on a testing protocol that screens for COVID-19 multiple times over 14 days. Employees that test positive are told to quarantine at home until after symptoms resolve.

So far, employees who have come in close contact with co-workers who had tested positive have been testing negative.