Iowa Veterans Home
The Iowa Department of Public health reports the state’s largest long-term care facility is no longer on the outbreak list.
All but two of the seven residents and 22 staff from the Iowa Veterans Home who were diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered. Those two residents are awaiting their second test results to come back.
Commandant Timon Oujiri says it’s all due to the great work of the roughly 900 staff at the Veteran’s Home.
“The entire staff gave everybody high fives, of course six feet apart from each other, no contact, but they were all elated,” Oujiri says “And it is due to the staff on how well they abided by our requests and what we were asking them to do in their personal lives and here at the Iowa Veteran’s Home.”
The Commandant says while that is great news — COVID-19 restrictions at the Veterans Home still remain. “We haven’t moved into Phase Two yet, so we’re still at our current phase and current restrictions in place. But we should be getting down and getting the okay shortly to move into the second phase, which is where we will open up some of our visitations,” Oujiri says.
Oujiri adds the hope is that sometime in July, the Iowa Veteran’s Home will again be able to open their doors to folks who have applied to become new residents at the Marshalltown facility.
(By Ken Huge, KFJB, Marshalltown)