VIENNA — Last Thursday Maries Manor nursing home in Vienna went on lockdown, ending all visits from people coming in from the outside for fear of residents being infected with the highly …
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VIENNA — Last Thursday Maries Manor nursing home in Vienna went on lockdown, ending all visits from people coming in from the outside for fear of residents being infected with the highly contagious 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Maries Manor Director of Social Services, Becky Bowser, said the lockdown order came from the Health Services Inc. (HSI) corporate office in Osage Beach and all of the nearly 100 HSI facilities are on lockdown because of fears of becoming infected by COVID-19. Bowser said HSI facilities are not alone as other nursing homes in Westphalia, Rolla, and St. James all have stopped allowing visitors into the buildings as a proactive measure.
“It’s a preventative measure, safety first,” Bowser said, adding that so many people come into the building to visit residents and “we don’t know where they’ve been. We have to keep our residents safe.”
Family members and frequent visitors were contacted and all of them were understanding and willing to cooperate. They realized its best to be safe rather than sorry. Family members were supportive and appreciate that Maries Manor is taking the virus seriously. The COVID-19 is most deadly to the elderly.
Bowser said employees are screened each day when they come to work. They are asked where they’ve been and checked for fever and cough. They also are using best practices and following safety protocols of frequent hand washing and using sanitizers.
Bowser said their goal is to “get on top of it before it shows up.”
They are unsure when the lockdown will end as this is a new experience for many employees. Maries Manor wanted to be proactive and Bowser said, “We hope the virus won’t make it here.”
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses which can make humans and animals sick. Some coronaviruses can cause illnesses similar to the common cold. Others can cause more serious illnesses, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China. Since its detection, COVID-19 has spread to other countries in the world. It is called a “novel” virus because it has never been detected before this outbreak.
