As many of you must be aware, the COVID-19 cases have been climbing nationally, statewide, and locally during the last few weeks. During the Governor’s address today, she urged workplaces to do all they can to improve safety for their workers. According to MIOSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Rules established last month, employers are required to create a policy prohibiting in-person work for employees to the extent feasible. While we at ARF cannot work remotely from home, we can significantly decrease our staff’s risk of exposure by returning to curbside service. Rest assured, we have a COVID-19 preparedness plan and have been diligent at its implementation. But the reality remains that we are in the midst of a global pandemic and trying to maintain our ability to provide care for each of our patients in the face of once-again rapidly rising numbers of COVID-19 cases. Consider the following facts:
• As of Nov. 10, a total of 6,885 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases were reported in Washtenaw County
• 133 new confirmed cases and 9 hospitalizations were recorded in 24 hours.
• Over the past week, the average number of new daily cases in Washtenaw County was 97, compared to the second week of October when it was 35 per day.
• Most of the current cases are no longer associated with students or young adults and are countywide
The current guidelines from the Washtenaw County Health Department for close contact exposures are as follows:
“Close contacts should quarantine for 14 days. If you are exposed but do not have symptoms, please wait at least 5 days before testing, and remember that a negative test does NOT eliminate the need to quarantine for the full 14 days. Isolation or quarantine requires staying away from others and out of public places, except if seeking medical care or testing.”
Essentially, this would mean that any exposure to any of our staff members would close our doors for 14 days. We are doing all that we can to be able to remain here and able to take care of your beloved family members, and for that reason, effective immediately, we will be resuming curbside-only operations.
We apologize sincerely for any inconvenience that this may cause, and pledge to continue to offer the same compassionate care that you are accustomed to receiving while maintaining as safe of a workplace as possible for our team.
Thank you in advance for your understanding as we continue to try to offer uninterrupted care during this global health crisis!
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