BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Senior living facilities have been some of the most impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Kern County, 14-of-the-19 senior living facilities have positive cases.
The Rosewood Retirement Community in Southwest Bakersfield is one of the few with no COVID-19 cases.
With more than 100 residents the site serves as independent living, assisted living, and memory care facility.
The community's executive director, Rochelle Balaban, says they've been working hard to prevent the spread.
"We are screening all team members and other essential workers every time they come on campus," said Balaban.
"We're going through all of the covid symptoms, taking their temperatures, and making sure everybody's wearing a face mask. If they have any symptoms then they are not allowed to come on campus."
The facility says its team members don't work at any other facilities.
Officials at Rosewood also require anyone coming on to their campus to sign in, answer questions about symptoms, and have their temperature checked.
"We also chose to contract with a lab so we wouldn't have to rely solely on the local public health department to test our team members and residents," said Balaban.
Rosewood says as soon as the COVID-19 outbreak began they stopped all non-essential visits, group dining, and activities.
The Kern County Public Health Department has required all skilled nursing facilities to implement mitigation plans to prevent and control the transmission of covid.
"At this point in time, we do expect our cases to continue to keep rising and we have concerns in our community about the amount of transmission going on," said Kim Hernandez, Kern County lead epidemiologist.
During a press briefing on Thursday, health officials said despite these facilities being operated by the state, they check in daily with each skilled nursing facility to review their needs. This includes reviewing staffing, personal protective equipment needs, and their actual number of cases.
