30 cases reported at senior living facility in The Dalles

“Reportedly most of the cases involve mild or no symptoms, but this still serves as a wake-up call for our community to take appropriate measures to protect ourselves, our families and our fellow citizens,” said The Dalles Mayor Rich Mays in a Facebook post on Sept. 22, a couple days after Flagstone reported the outbreak.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those Flagstone residents, their families and the staff. Please continue to wear a mask, wash your hands frequently and practice social distancing.”

Flagstone administration responded immediately to the initial positive case, and rapidly completed testing of all of the residents and staff, according to a North Central Public Health District press release.

In addition, Flagstone has increased cleaning schedules, enhanced usage of PPE and initiated other measures to reduce risk of further transmission.

North Central Public Health District staff, Flagstone administration and staff, the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Human Services are all working together to provide a rapid, intensive response to reduce harm to residents and staff and to decrease further spread at the facility and in our community, said a press release from NCPHD.

Under OHA guidelines, everyone at Flagstone who has tested negative will be re-tested on a weekly basis until the facility has gone without a positive case for two consecutive weeks.

Information about the outbreak will be posted by the OHA in its weekly report, which publishes every Wednesday.

The current report can be found online at www.oregon.gov/oha/ search weekly report.

Outbreaks at long term care facilities do not affect school metrics that determine when schools can return to in-person learning, said NCPHD.