CEDAR FALLS, IOWA (KWWL) - State officials reported that there are currently zero COVID-19 outbreaks across Iowa's several hundred nursing homes.
The milestone comes at the perfect time for facilities like Newaldaya Lifescapes in Cedar Falls, which announced that effective today, they would be changing their visitation guidelines.
"We've been waiting for this for a very long time, and yesterday when we got the news, I'm pretty sure I stood up and screamed and jumped up and down. That's how excited I was for the families and residents."
Crystal Jasper, Director of Clinical Services
The residents can now see two visitors at a time, with no appointments, nurse supervision, or time limits.
For couples like Delyle and wife Carolyn Russell, who have been married for 62 years, they never experienced being a part from each other, so the lift on time limits during their visitation hours was the best part of the news.
"We're very happy, very happy for everyone involved that we're back to normal."
Delyle Russell, Resident at Newaldaya Lifescapes
Down the street at Bickford of Cedar Falls, operations also shows signs of getting back to normal. Two weeks earlier, Bickford started hosting music events again, pet therapy sessions, and even allowed visitation for residents to go off-site. Resident Kay Junker recently got to take a day trip, and left the facility for the first time in a year.
"It was a beautiful day, my granddaughter from Cedar Rapids came and wanted to take me somewhere. So I talked with the officials and they let me out, and we had a wonderful time."
Kay Junker, Resident at Bickford of Cedar Falls
Older Iowans were among the first to receive the vaccine, so this new data demonstrates its efficacy rate. On a larger county basis, less restrictive guidelines will be able to continue in long-term care facilities as long as either positivity rates stay below 10% or 70% of residents in a facility are fully vaccinated, with no new outbreaks reported within a 14-day period.
According to Newaldaya's staff members who did their due diligence, these guidelines are in accordance with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Iowa Department of Public Health and Safety, and Department of Inspection & Appeals.
Newaldaya will be properly celebrating the good news tonight with their Friday Night Live event kicking off at 7p.m., welcoming open visitations and featuring a live band at their resident Pub.
Bickford of Cedar Falls would like to share that in tandem with this good news, they are happily accepting new admissions at their facilities. To learn more, CLICK HERE.
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March 20, 2021 at 07:04AM
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Long-term care facilities celebrate incredible pandemic milestone - kwwl.com
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