Dear Laguna Honda Residents and Families,
This week has been another tough one in California’s fight against COVID-19. Yesterday, California reported the highest daily tally of both COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 deaths. We have now surpassed New York in total confirmed cases, making California the state with the most cases in the country.
On Wednesday, Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Health informed us that in San Francisco, “new cases are up fourfold from where they were one month ago, and hospitalizations are currently higher than they were at the initial rise of the pandemic in San Francisco.”
Despite this surge, Laguna Honda Hospital’s (LHH) last COVID-19 positive resident case was on Friday, July 10. LHH is limiting the spread of COVID-19 and protecting our residents through strict adherence to infection control protocols, universal masking, surveillance, universal testing, and other key measures.
This week the City shared that COVID-19 testing efforts in congregate settings, like LHH, have greatly contributed to San Francisco achievement of a much lower mortality rate—fivefold less—than similar counties. Our ultimate goal is to keep our residents safe by not exposing them to COVID-19, and thereby minimizing the potential for complications.
At LHH, we have had 71 total cases since our first known case in March—50 staff cases and 21 resident cases. This past week there were no additional resident cases and two additional staff cases. We are fortunate to have 31 recovered staff cases and 20 recovered resident cases. This leaves one resident currently receiving care in our dedicated COVID-19 unit.
This is a critical moment in this pandemic. We need your help as we work to protect our communities and keep the virus under control.
To our residents – we remain committed in our vigilance in keeping our LHH community as safe as possible. Your health and well-being are our most important priorities.
To our families – thank you for your patience, cooperation and understanding during the quarantine. While I know it has been difficult, you are helping to slow the spread of COVID-19 at LHH through your great sacrifice. Please continue to protect yourself while you are away. You can do this by following the same infection prevention measures that we practice at LHH—masking, washing your hands frequently and maintaining a safe distance wherever you go. When you are considering an activity outside of you home, please consider these four characteristics:
• Number – As the number of people or sites increases, the possible interactions increase exponentially. • Frequency – The more often people interact, the higher the risk of virus transmission. • Duration – The longer people are together, the higher the risk of virus transmission. • Distance – The closer together people are, the higher the risk of virus transmission.
We are in this together and we will get out of this together. Thank you for your continued support of the LHH community. Sincerely,
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