BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — Sonata Boca Raton — a senior living facility — was listed on the Florida Health Department’s report of facilities with at least one patient or staffer who tested positive for COVID-19. Sonata’s statement is below. We point out that Sonata is correct in sayin that the Florida Department of Health report does NOT specify WHEN the infection was reported, or a current “real time” update:
Sonata Senior Living recently took the proactive measure of testing 100 percent of its staff members and residents for COVID-19, working with a third-party laboratory to administer the tests. This is happening despite the fact that there have been zero reports of any resident or staff member exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 and with residents and staff following applicable guidelines such as staff members and residents having their temperatures taken multiple times throughout the day to monitor for any symptoms.
The company took this step because it knows it is more effective to address a situation when you have all of the information, and that people with COVID-19 are asymptomatic for a specific period of time. Ultimately, knowing which residents and staff members might be infected was a crucial piece of information necessary to better protect their larger population.
Over the past two weeks, we have administered 1,850 tests at 11 communities, including all residents, private sitters, and staff members statewide. We currently have a total of 3 residents in Palm Beach County at Sonata Boca Raton and zero in Broward County with positive results, all of whom were asymptomatic at the time of testing. Any resident previously testing positive was asymptomatic and has since received two follow up tests with negative results, indicating a full recovery.
The residents who have tested positive are being quarantined and monitored closely in adherence with all state and federal regulations and guidelines. A list of preventative steps and tasks is listed for reference. As an added layer of precaution, Sonata has secured follow up testing of the entire community to occur again this week.
Sonata Senior Living has notified the Palm Beach County Department of Health as required and has taken all required precautionary measures, most in advance of any state or local directives. Sonata Senior Living has also notified residents and their families, as well as staff, about the results and precautionary measures that have been and will continue to be taken. We have also activated our COVID-19 Rapid Response Protocol to mitigate risk of future spread.
To our knowledge, Sonata Senior Living is among the first providers in the state to proactively, and at no out of pocket cost to residents or staff, contract with vendors to test 100 percent of its staff and residents. Because people are able to transmit the virus when they are asymptomatic, it is critical to know how many people are infected before they start showing symptoms, as this could greatly reduce community spread. In this case, Sonata Senior Living’s proactive efforts led to the identification of the positive cases with people who were asymptomatic and could have inadvertently spread the virus to more people before developing noticeable symptoms.
