Masonicare Adds Coronavirus Precautions As Confirmed Cases Build

WALLINGFORD, CT – A day after several Masonicare employees throughout the company’s various service lines tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said that all employee team members and others who enter facilities are undergoing a daily health screen to prevent the further spread of the virus, Masonicare announced on Wednesday. The practice of doing so has been in place since March and the precautions and screenings will continue organization-wide until there is no longer an imminent threat of exposure to the virus.

Masonicare operates senior health care facilities and has campuses in Wallingford, Mystic and Chester. In a statement issued this week, Masonicare announced that the organization is taking every precaution in dealing with the virus, which has led to the several confirmed cases of employees and at least one death at Masonicare facilities.

Ann Collette, a spokesperson for Masonicare, told the Meriden Record Journal in an email that two employees at the company’s Wallingford location have tested positive for the coronavirus and are on leave recovering.

“We want to assure everyone that our employee team members who have tested positive, as well as those awaiting test results, are at home abiding by the CDC quarantine guidelines,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “Additionally, we are carefully tracing all potential exposure risks associated with these cases and communicating any risks to our residents, patients, families, and other staff members.”

On Wednesday, the organization announced that all team members, third-party vendors and providers must enter through a single entrance at campus location, health centers and other offices. The daily health screenings include a thorough health questionnaire and a daily temperature scan prior to the beginning of a work shift. All personnel who enter facilities are required to wear, at minimum, a cloth face-covering while all direct caregivers are required to wear a surgical mask.