COVID-19 pandemic strikes Simpson campus

Officials still trying to figure out how it got into home - 20 residents affected

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An outbreak of the COVID-19 virus at West Liberty’s Simpson Memorial Home has spread to 20 of the 33 residents, it was announced last week by Administrator Shelley Wicks.

“We really don’t know how it got in,” said Wicks of the virus after getting through month after month of containment for residents since March.

Wicks said the first case was discovered on Tuesday, Sept. 8, after two staff members tested positive for the virus after coming down with symptoms typical to the virus. She said all residents and staff members were then tested, unveiling the reality. She said two of those 20 residents are being hospitalized and eight of about 100 staff members have tested positive, although some are a-symptomatic, meaning they may not have symptoms but are carriers of the disease.

She said the facility immediately went to quarantine status after it had climbed to phase three since the facility’s lockdown in mid-March. Wicks said the staff now uses full PPE gear in attending to residents and said the facility’s main goal at this point is to “concentrate on taking care of our residents and helping them get well.”

Wicks called the outbreak heartbreaking. “This is the second time I’ve had to go through this. It’s not easy,” she said, noting she’s been in the business since 1992 and has “never, ever, experienced anything like this. It’s totally unprecedented for everyone.”

She said other senior care centers in the area are also experiencing outbreaks, noting this is not an isolated case.

“We feel so bad this happened,” said Wicks, who has been at Simpson since April 2005.

She pointed out her staff needs to be commended in responding to the outbreak, working tirelessly. “We have a fantastic staff that is working to keep our residents safe.”

She said the facility did everything it could to try to keep the virus at bay, testing workers twice a week and making sure anyone with any kind of symptom – fever, soar throat, shortness of breath, chills, fatigue, cough, intestinal problems, loss of taste and/or smell – were taken seriously.

She said all family members are being updated daily on “what’s going on” and status of residents and pointed out the home’s Facebook page is also updated daily,

She said the facility is constantly in touch with the Iowa Department of Public Health as well as the facility’s medical director, Dr. Scott Eberly in getting guidance and advise on the matter.

Wicks said although it came as a surprise, the IDPH said there would be a spike in the fall of cases. “No matter what we did, COVID-19 got into our building,” she said. “What you have to do is deal with it.”

She said the facility had got to the point of having socially distant visits from friends and family members behind screens, growing from Internet video meetings, face time on phones and visits through windows. She said all of the residents have been isolated from the public since March with the exception of getting food and drink delivered to their rooms.

The administrator said employees are constantly educated on handling the virus, from proper hand washing, infection control, proper use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and social distancing.

“This is a difficult time, but we will get through this,” Wicks said in a release, grateful to the community for their constant support of the facility which has been around for nearly 50 years, opening in July of 1975.

She said no residents in the adjacent Heath Manor facility were affected by the outbreak.

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