Cloverhill Nursing Home in County Roscommon has confirmed that following recent tests, 22 residents and 16 staff at the facility have tested positive for Covid-19.
One resident is in hospital while the others are being cared for in the nursing home.
Seamus Crawley, Director of Sonas (the company that runs Cloverhill) said the highly infectious virus was presenting unprecedented challenges for residents, their loved ones and staff members.
“The most important thing to stress is that all our residents are continuing to receive the best quality of care possible from a dedicated and caring team” Mr. Crawley said.
“These results are a huge concern, but residents who tested positive and negative are being cared for appropriately. Right now, they are the focus of all our resources and energies”.
Mr. Crawley said that the residents and their families have been informed of the results.
“We would like to thank them for their understanding and the tremendous support they are giving us. Our staff have established great relationships and friendships with residents and their families over the years, so there is a real sense of community in Cloverhill and that we’ll face this challenge together”.
Mr. Crawley continued: “This is an incredibly difficult time for our employees and we would like to pay tribute to the dedicated and highly professional team in Cloverhill and thank them for the tremendous care they are providing to residents throughout this emergency”.
Mr. Crawley has said that contingency plans were in place for staff to go off work and those plans had been activated. He said management is happy with both the level of staffing in the home at present and with the stocks of Personal Protection Equipment available for staff. He said the HSE had just delivered supplies of PPE to the home.
“Any staff members who have tested positive for the virus are now self-isolating. An employee assistance and wellbeing programme has also been made available to them”.
Planning and testing
Mr. Crawley has said that Cloverhill had put additional infection control measures and contingency plans in place in early March.
“Strict visiting restrictions were imposed at Cloverhill from March 6th on the advice of Nursing Homes Ireland. Our contingency plans included additional supplies of PPE gear and the redeployment of additional staff if required. All National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and HIQA guidelines are being followed and we are liaising and working closely with both organisations on a regular basis”.
Mr. Crawley continued: “Nursing homes care for our most vulnerable citizens and these are the people which are most at risk from this virus. While most of the people who have sadly succumbed to the virus have been residents of nursing homes, it’s also important to remember that the majority of residents who’ve tested positive for Covid-19 have recovered from the virus”.
