By this time there are probably very few treatment programs that haven’t been directly touched by Covid-19, whether in students or employees. And it’s a situation we’ve all had to quickly learn to prevent, address, respond to, and manage. The collaboration and support between NATSAP programs has been inspiring as everyone is navigating this together. Even at the CERTS Group Programs–Mountain Springs, La Europa Academy, Kolob Canyon and Moonridge Academy– we’ve encountered some students and staff contracting the virus, despite high levels of precautions – and we’re so thankful that each incident has cleared quickly and without issue.
Here is what we have learned and what we’ve done with Covid-19 Guidelines…
- In most instances, positive cases were completely asymptomatic or at most had very mild cold symptoms for 1-2 days, so detection can be challenging.
- All students are required to wear masks, when outside of the dorms. All employees are required to wear masks.
- Social distancing is always encouraged.
- Frequent handwashing and disinfecting surfaces is just a way of life now.
- Symptomatic and positive Covid students are immediately quarantined as per CDC guidelines.
- We have been able to section off areas of the dorms for safe quarantining with good ventilation, meal deliveries, etc.
- Frequent tests area administered on all students and employees whenever we have encountered a positive case to quickly reduce further spread.
- If an employee tests positive, they immediately quarantine at home for the recommended 10-14 days before being cleared to return to work.
- Student have been able to seamlessly continue with their schooling and therapy through online platforms, even when in quarantine.
- Our off-campus activity options are always being adjusted as necessary, as dictated by local levels of outbreak and CDC recommendations.
- All new students enrolling, must be tested and have a negative test result before admitting and joining the other students on campus.
- We continue to restrict tours on our campus.
- Parent visits and home visits have enhanced testing and quarantining requirements to help increase the safety of everyone. All students returning from a home visit or off-campus visit are tested and remain in quarantine with their parents or in our quarantine house until they receive a negative test result.
- We are coordinating the times of home visits and parent visits to ensure that testing can occur with results obtained in a reasonable amount of time.
- We are using a private lab in St. George for all of our testing. This has helped make this process so much easier with results obtained in 24-36 hours in most instances.
And With All of This During Covid-19….
CERTS Programs have been able to continue safely admitting new students, and we have had overwhelmingly positive feedback from our parents on our handing and communication with the pandemic. None of us could have ever predicted the curve balls of 2020, but we’re pretty proud of how it’s going!