David Swartley COVID Update #34

Dec 18, 2020 | COVID Update

From: David Swartley, President/CEO 
Date: December 18, 2020 
RE: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update #34

I am writing to give an update on the latest information regarding COVID-19 cases at Moravian Manor Communities.

Despite all our training and preparation, with the high levels of community transmission, COVID-19 inevitably entered our community, as it has so many retirement communities. Our Herrnhut Neighborhood (skilled nursing memory care) has been directly affected. This week we had our seventh resident die from COVID-related issues. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and our caregivers who are profoundly affected by the virus. Our cumulative positive tests on Herrnhut are now twenty-six positive. It is important to note that we have eleven residents who tested positive and moved through the critical time and are now out of precautions. Moving through this twenty-one day period means they can leave their room and have more flexibility.

We also have had our ninth Residential Living positive case. This resident lives on our Founders Campus.

Early in the summer, we had several employees test positive for COVID-19. This trend has continued; this week, we have had two additional employees test positive for COVID-19. While all our employees have either recovered or been asymptomatic, their absence places stress on their fellow employees. Because Lancaster County’s positivity rate remains above ten percent, we’re doing twice-weekly testing for our staff and residents. For our second round, we began using Point of Care (POC) testing. POC testing gives us results almost immediately, which is a significant improvement. Better turnaround is critical for us to manage the virus to the best of our ability.

We’ve been very conservative with our protocols and practices in our skilled nursing and memory care units. We continue to appreciate families cooperating with us during this challenging time. This week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health arrived and completed an infection control survey. While we struggle with the loss of life, we were pleased that there were no survey findings. Our team is doing everything we can to keep our residents safe.

The good news is that the vaccine will arrive very soon. Our first doses will be administered on December 29! The second dose will be administered on January 19. I look forward to receiving my vaccination as soon as I am in the queue. The vaccine gives hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel!

I also would like to thank the many residents who participated in the PA Department of Health antibody serology study this week. I am pleased that Moravian Manor Communities was selected to participate in this study!

Our Medical Director keeps us apprised of the CDC’s latest recommendations regarding the vaccine and other developments. Moravian Manor Communities continues to follow all infection control protocols stipulated by the PA Dept. of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for dealing with the new Coronavirus. I believe that our recent infection control survey confirms that our team is following the best guidelines available.

For those of you seeking additional information, continuous updates are available at the following websites:

You can also email specific questions to: