As you may be aware, South Florida remains number one in the United States for active cases of COVID-19, this includes Palm Beach County. We are continuing to work closely with the Palm Beach County Department of Health to perform bi-weekly testing of our Health Center residents and team members.
Late Monday, September 14th, we received updated results from our mass testing that occurred on September 9th and 10th. We discovered that several additional asymptomatic residents and individuals who provide care to our residents tested positive for COVID-19.
As of today, there are 22 active Health Center resident cases of COVID-19. We have set up a special isolation area, and 20 of these residents are being cared for in our community while three are being cared for in the hospital. There are 22 total active team member cases of COVID-19, and all are self-isolating at home with the support of our Human Resources team.
In addition to the testing that has been ongoing in our Health Center, we will be conducting voluntary testing of independent living residents and mandatory testing of Independent Living team members as part of our effort to identify any asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19.
Our community leaders have been in regular communication and consultation with the Palm Beach County Department of Health epidemiology team. We have had repeat and multiple infection control surveys by the Palm Beach County and Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, all of which have been deficiency-free.
The Waterford, in partnership with Lifespace Communities and local health authorities, is taking extra steps to control the spread of the virus. Key healthcare leaders from Lifespace will be in our community this week to reinforce and provide additional education and training on infection control and appropriate use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including the correct use of masks and face shields. Lifespace team members from other communities will be arriving this week to provide operational and clinical support to our community leaders and front line team members.
Your team at The Waterford and Lifespace are committed to containing the spread of this virus in our community, and we need your help to do so. We highly encourage residents to only leave the community for essential needs like groceries or critical medical appointments. Residents and team members are also encouraged to continue practicing social distancing, and we ask that you wear a mask or face covering when you interact with others in public settings. Continued attention to proper hand hygiene, including handwashing and the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer, is essential to preventing the spread of the virus. As we have done throughout the last several weeks, we will continue working with you to contain the spread of this virus in our community.
Thank you for your continued support as we weather this global pandemic together.