Courtesy Photo Joe Rouleau, a resident of Turning Brook in Alpena, holds up a message for family and friends to view on March 27 in this photo provided by the senior care facility. Julie Sticker, the life enrichment coordinator, organized the activity to send messages to loved ones via Facebook during the coronavirus pandemic.

ALPENA — Although Northeast Michigan senior care facilities are restricting visitors to protect residents during the coronavirus outbreak, they are finding other ways to keep residents in contact with loved ones.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on March 14 ordered all health care facilities to restrict entries to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. On April 5, she extended that order until May 3, and she now requires facilities to accommodate visitations between residents and their family using phone or videoconferencing software.

One case of confirmed infection has been reported in Presque Isle County. Zero cases have been reported in Alpena, Montmorency, or Alcona counties. The statewide tally on Tuesday reached 18,970 cases and 845 deaths.

Kristy Repke, director of nursing at MediLodge of Alpena, said her facility purchased more iPads to assist residents with family communication. As of Monday, the facility houses 108 residents.

“The residents are FaceTiming with their family members, and they’re actually visiting with family who will come to the window, and we will have them on speakerphone and they’ll be able to talk through the window,” Repke said.

Residents’ activities and daily life have been altered to protect their health.

“Our population is the most vulnerable at this point, so we need to ensure that they’re safe,” Repke said.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

State data shows 80% of those infected with COVID-19 are 60 or older, including 34% of patients who are 80 or older. The median age of those who’ve died from the disease is 73.

PRECAUTIONS

At every senior living facility, every staff member has to answer a series of questions prior to coming into work, asking whether they have been in contact with anyone who has COVID-19, have been in an area with confirmed cases, or have any shortness of breath.

Staff members also have their temperatures taken.

If any employee answers yes or has a fever, they have to go home and self-quarantine.

If someone is sent home, facility officials would follow up with the employee daily to see how they’re doing, Repke said.

MediLodge announced through a robo call that, effective today, all staff must use cloth masks while in the facility. They encouraged staffers to follow federal recommendations to wash the cloth masks routinely.

If a resident were to show any of the virus symptoms, he or she would quarantine in his or her room and the facility would work with his or her physician, Barb Werle, administrator and registered nurse at Turning Brook, said.

If the facility’s staff were unable to provide further care for the resident, the resident’s doctor could order he or she go to the hospital.

Turning Brook suspended all admissions on March 18. Current residents who leave the facility for any reason are placed in isolation for two weeks when they return to the facility.

Besser Senior Living Community, a new facility in Alpena, is accepting admissions, but someone would have to be isolated for two weeks prior to moving in unless they’re moving from a facility with no confirmed cases of COVID-19, Julie Kelly, Besser regional sales and marketing director, said.

Mark Hall, Alpena County emergency services coordinator and 911 director, said Monday that county officials are doing everything they can to keep the virus out of health care facilities through social distancing and isolation of patients.

“What I’m trying to get everyone to understand is the virus will get to this region, and, right now, we need to assume that, even though we’re at zero (COVID-19 cases) officially, the virus is already here and we should be taking appropriate actions,” Hall said.

STAYING CHEERFUL

Meanwhile, senior facilities are doing what they can to keep residents cheerful and in touch with the outside world.

At MediLodge, residents participate in facility-wide bingo on Fridays, with residents staying in their rooms and numbers called over the intercom. Church services are shown on a TV.

Repke said all large-group activities have been discontinued for quite some time.

Residents eat either in their room or at their own table in the dining room with a staff member.

Restorative activities, such as physical or occupational therapy, still go on for those who need it. People who are not showing any symptoms of illness are allowed to move about the building while following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to stay six feet apart.

At Turning Brook, a 54-resident facility, the activity coordinator has the ability to video-chat with families and residents through Facebook.

Werle, the Turning Brook administrator, said people also can participate in activities like yoga, with fewer than 10 people in a group and the six-foot social distancing rule in place.

Werle said different churches have sent in pre-recorded sermons to show throughout the week.

Besser Senior Living Community keeps residents busy with activities ranging from arts and crafts to hallway bowling tournaments, using toilet paper in place of pins. To keep residents cheerful in recent weeks, residents have also participated in “pamper days” that include manicures, movies, and root beer floats.

“We try to do as many activities as we can,” Kelly, the Besser facility’s marketing director, said. “I think our residents are holding up the best they can, just like the rest of us are holding up. It’s affecting all of our lives, and we’re trying to stay positive, keep the faith, and hope that it’s over soon.”