Dear Sholom residents and family members,

We were notified by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) of a positive case of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in a Sholom employee on the St. Louis Park Ackerberg Campus. Because of the non-direct care nature of this part-time employee’s work, MDH has determined residents and visitors are at no identifiable risk of becoming ill with COVID-19. MDH is leading the investigation to determine exposure risk for any staff that may have had contact with this employee and are directly reaching out to those identified employees. At this time, we have no other confirmations of COVID-19. We will follow the guidelines and directions set out by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the MDH. We do not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 at any Sholom resident locations.

Effective March 27, 2020 until April 10, 2020, the Minnesota Governor has issued a Stay-at-Home order for all Minnesotans. This order limits movements outside of your homes beyond essential needs for two weeks. Essential needs would include groceries, gasoline, pharmacy and essential medical appointments. This is in addition to the existing recommendations regarding social distancing, visitor restrictions, and group gathering limitations. We highly recommend you strictly adhere to these orders. We are in touch with state and local officials to ensure this information is appropriately shared and recorded as needed.

We will continue to take all the necessary steps to keep residents safe and there are currently no residents with any COVID-19 symptoms.

We understand that this creates a lot of unease in our community. We have taken action by continuing screening and taking temperatures of staff, restricting visitors, and canceling group events. We are working closely with the MDH to monitor the situation.

We are asking all members of our community to help minimize the spread of illness:

• Protect yourself and others by washing your hands often with soap and water; covering your cough and sneeze; avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
• If you are sick, stay home
• Please follow all guidelines for resident isolation, visitor restriction, and/or screening
• Be prepared in case you get sick and need to stay home. Keep enough food, regular prescription drugs, and other necessities on hand in case you need to stay home and are not able to go out easily
• Frequently clean all commonly touched surfaces and areas (e.g., telephones, doorknobs, countertops, etc.)

Resources that you may find valuable are:

CDC Coronavirus:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

CDC guidance for those at higher risk: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-riskcomplications.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019ncov%2Fhigh-risk%2Fhigh-risk-complications.html

MDH Coronavirus: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/index.html

Thank you for your continued vigilance against COVID-19 and for your support of everyone in our community.

Best,

Barbara Klick, RN, MBA, CEO

Ann Thole, SW, LNHA, COO