*Names of sources have been changed and names of the nursing homes where they work have been omitted for confidentiality purposes.
WALKERSVILLE, Md. — On March 29, Lucy* came home with shocking news to report to her husband: a nursing home in the neighboring county had over 65 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Pleasant View Nursing Home, an assisted living center in Mount Airy, Maryland under 30 minutes from Lucy’s home, reported two positive cases of the virus on March 27, before confirming an additional 64 on March 28. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan stated last week that more than 81 of the states more than 200 nursing homes had reported cases of the virus.
This news came with dread to the family, since both the mother and father work in nursing homes in the state. However, according to them, the news of the virus and the news of Pleasant View has prompted their places of work to establish stricter protocols to keep both their workers and residents safe.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, older adults and those who have underlying health conditions are at higher risk for developing serious complications from the coronavirus. Of the deaths reported in the US, eight out of ten have been in adults aged 65 or older. The CDC notes that nursing home populations are at the highest risk of being infected by the virus, since they have high populations of older adults.
Riley* and Lucy explained that in the weeks leading up to the news of Pleasant View, other workers at their respective facilities had been talking among themselves regarding the cases. “It had just been rumors at first,” Riley said. “The staff had begun talking about it, but we didn’t know exactly what to believe until the cases made the news.”
The news was even more concerning since workers may work at more than one assisted living facility to help make ends meet, Lucy explained. “It’s scary,” she said. “We don’t want the virus to spread anymore to ourselves, and the high-risk residents.”
Both of their places of work have been under a sort of lockdown since the virus began to show its effect on older adults, but since the news of Pleasant View, the policies have been much stricter, they explained.
For Riley, his place of work has banned vistiations. Before the news of Pleasant View, and larger outbreaks of the virus, visitors had to be screened for any health conditions and items before being granted entry. Family members are not even allowed into the facility at this time. Now, only workers are allowed in and they are screened at the door for any related coronavirus symptoms before going in. Workers must wash their hands often and not touch their faces. Workers were given masks and protective gear to help prevent the virus. “Standard precautions are a must now,” he said. “Even mail is dropped off at the front — whether it be from the postal service or gifts and supplies from family members — and is then taken to be sanitized before given to the residents.” In addition, residents are confined to their rooms, with meals and other necessities being delivered to the individual rooms, and staff members are being educated on the new policies, social distancing and other ways to keep themselves and others protected.
At Lucy’s nursing home facility, it wasn’t just the nursing home that went into lockdown, but each of the three units that make it up. The three units — assisted living, independent living and the healthcare center — have been shut off from each other, which means that no workers who work in other units can go to another one, and neither can the residents. Any doors leading to another unit has been locked to prevent any spread of the virus from one unit to another. In addition, the residents have been confined to their rooms, with meals, mail and other necessities being brought to them by the staff. The staff are given masks and goggles every day when they come to work in addition to being screened for any symptoms when they come in as well as when they leave.
Since visitations by anyone are also not allowed at Lucy’s nursing home, the facility has been granted iPads for the residents to use to FaceTime family members, as well as have any scheduled or needed doctor appointments. Still, Lucy, expressed feeling very sad for the residents due to their current situation. “I pity the residents so much,” she said. “The residents, some of them are so nervous, agitated, even scared. Their loved ones can’t come and visit them.”
According to correspondence from Lucy’s job, her nursing home facility has a resident that has tested positive for COVID-19. The resident is from the independent living unit of the nursing home and it was the family of the resident that notified the facility. The facility responded quickly and was able to “contact-trace” anyone who had been in contact with the resident and had them quarantined immediately. The correspondence came the same night the news of Pleasant View Nursing Home did, which all prompted the new policies described above.
Due to all of this news, and the risk it might pose, Riley and Lucy have set strict measures to protect their family and friends. The couple has four children, three sons and a daughter. The youngest, at 6-years-old, going onto 7 in May, is prohibited from going anywhere. The family, including the much older siblings, thought it best not to allow the hyper-active boy to go outside unless it was for a brief breath of fresh air. He is not allowed to accompany any family members on the rare trips to the store or anywhere else.
Riley and Lucy have adopted a strict cleansing regime for when they return from work. They remove their scrubs at the door, place them in a plastic bag and have them thrown into the laundry room for cleaning as soon as possible. They wash their hands and wipe down any surfaces they may have touched, their shoes and any personal items they bring to and from work. Lastly, they mop the floor where they may have walked with a solution of bleach and water. Then they head upstairs to bathe. “During all this we have the children confined to their rooms,” Lucy explained. “I call my daughter ahead to let her know, and she gathers her little brother in her room, where they wait until their father or I come to greet them, which we only do after we have done everything.” In addition, because the governor has issued a stay at home order, they are required to carry their work badges with them often to prove that they are essential workers.
The oldest, 23, works on Sundays at Best Buy, which has continued operating only with curbside pickup and maintaining the online store. Riley and Lucy have mandated that their children wear masks when leaving the confines of their property, which the oldest strictly follows when he goes to work, in addition to wearing gloves. Their second oldest son, 21, and daughter, 19, are under the stay at home order, and rarely leave the confines of the home. Their second oldest son works in IT, so he works remotely, while their daughter, a college student, continues her studies online.
All in the family are required to wash their hands often, wipe down any often touched surfaces — and mail and packages — and stay inside. “We want our children to be safe,” Riley said. “We know that our jobs pose a risk, but we will not let that risk win.”
As of April 22, Maryland has 14,775 cases and 632 deaths. Residents are under a stay-at-home order, and all non-essential business have closed, with essential business operating under new hours. Recently, most essential businesses have required that customers be wearing a face mask in order to enter the store, for example, the Korean-American supermarket chain, H-Mart. All businesses — such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, Giant Eagle, and Costco — have adopted social distancing measures, encouraging shoppers to stay the maintained six feet distance from each other as instructed by the CDC.
Deborah Afolabi 
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