Seniors home has lockdown plan in place, if needed

Sep 8, 2020 | 9:56 AM

A Vernon seniors home is being proactive when it comes to preventing spread of the coronavirus.

Canterbury Court on Gateby Place has notified its 145 residents the facility will go on lockdown if there is a rise in local COVID-19 cases once the flu season season starts in October.

“If we get COVID-19 cases in the Vernon area, and if the health department tells us with the flu season that COVID cases are coming in, we will lock down,” said Delene Demeter, general manager of the independent facility. “I have told my people expect that it could happen. October 1 is the general start of flu season, so we are going to be on the watch.”

Demeter said nothing is written in stone at this point.

“It’s just putting them on notice that it could very well happen,” she said.

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Demeter said if they did have a lockdown, it would mean residents won’t be allowed to leave the front of the building.

“They can go out in our backyard and our top deck, because that’s private, so they can still get outside in the fresh air. I’m attempting now to arrange — in the event we had to do a lockdown — that we could take them somewhere to walk on our bus, where it’s in private and wouldn’t be in contact with the public.

The residents wouldn’t be able to visit with their family and friends like they are now.

“We’d have to stop that because we don’t know where the families have been and if they’ve been exposed. They could do Zooms so they can still visit with their families and see them. Those that have balconies, can visit with their families from their balconies, looking down on them,” Demeter told Vernon Matters.

Demeter said most residents are supportive of the plan, which would still allow them to get groceries and medications shipped in.

“I think most of them understand that it’s something we might have to do because we went through this in the spring. We were locked down in the spring when it first came out and we didn’t even have a common cold in here so they see that the measures work. They’re not excited about it, but they understand why it would have to happen,” Demeter added.

by Pete McIntyre

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