Warren’s Senior Center Sees 0 Coronavirus Cases In 6 Months

WARREN, NJ — It has been six months since a positive coronavirus case has been reported at Brightview Senior Living in Warren. This is in stark contrast to the spike of cases being reported in New Jersey and at long-term care facilities.

"Brightview as a whole in New Jersey is doing exceptionally well," said Brightview Regional Director Samantha Lawrence. "We have over 700 residents and only had a handful of total cases. This is attributed to our hard work."

As of Wednesday, there were 342 active outbreaks and 2,967 positive residents and 3,435 positive staff members in long-term care facilities in New Jersey. This prompted the Garden State to impose a new rapid testing mandate on long-term care facilities. Read More: How NJ Can Stop The COVID Outbreaks In Long-Term Care Facilities

New Jersey's statewide coronavirus activity is at a "high" level, the Department Of Health said, now that the Garden State's new daily case total topped 4,600 for only the second time ever on Tuesday. It's also the first time New Jersey has been at the "high" level since May. Read More: Gov. Murphy Warns: Businesses Flaunt COVID Rules, Put NJ At Risk

On Wednesday, Murphy said New Jersey had 56 more deaths and 4,350 new cases.

Lawrence attributed Brightview’s success in keeping residents and staff healthy to restrictions on visitors and extra cleaning.

Brightview allows outdoor visitation with the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) and screening. Indoor visitation is allowed in end-of-life situations or extremely limited for a resident's mental wellbeing.

Residents are limited to choose one or two people who are considered essential support people to come to visit. These people include a spouse, clergy, adult child, or someone really important to them.

"These support people are essential to the resident's wellbeing even with indoor restrictions," Lawrence said. "If these people are that important to them and their mental state, Brightview recognizes the importance of that."

The social interaction and emotional support from family and loved ones to residents remains a high priority at the center. Lawrence noted the center is continuing to offer virtual and video visits to help with residents’ mental health.

"We want our residents to have the ability to see loved ones face-to-face," said Lawrence.

Brightview Senior Vice President Julie Masiello noted that numbers are also low at the center because of the availability of PPE.

"The difference between now and the spring is that PPE was hard to come by. Brightview really went above and beyond to find PPE much earlier in the process since we knew what to expect with the virus the second time around," said Masiello.

Brightview is located at 57 Mt Bethel Rd. in Warren.

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