Polk Center residents may be allowed to have visitors in the near future, center director Sue Rodgers told the Polk board of trustees on Tuesday.
“As of today we are on day 14 of step one, and tomorrow we should move to step two,” Rodgers said as she referenced a phased reopening plan the state Department of Health has implemented at the state centers similar to what counties were classified under in the spring.
Rodgers said that for Polk to move to step two, it must remain free of new cases of COVID-19 for 14 days and will need permission from the Department of Health.
As of Tuesday, Rodgers said the center has had 111 residents and 173 employees test positive for the coronavirus, and she said no positive cases have been reported in the last two weeks.
Rodgers also said 95% of the center’s 180 residents will have received two vaccine doses by Monday once the center holds the last of three vaccine clinics it has provided through a partnership with CVS.
Only one-third of center’s 195 employees will have been vaccinated, something Rodgers said was expected.
“We did a survey before the vaccine was even available, and right around a third of the staff were willing to get it,” she said.
“We’re looking at local opportunities like Rite Aid in hopes of offering the vaccine to everyone associated with the center who might want it at a later date, Rodgers said.
She said that because the center no longer has its own pharmacy, it must look to outside sources to provide the vaccine and inoculate the residents and staff.
