A Fall Surge is Upon Us - Stay Focused

posted on Friday, October 2, 2020

A "Fall Surge" is Here - The coasts are reporting a significant uptick in positive cases. Parts of Iowa are experiencing high 14 day positive case averages. As more businesses, including schools, open back up the increase was expected. It's important we continue to take our precautions seriously to protect persons served and our workforce. 

Here are a few actions we are taking.

Following Face Mask Mandates - In an effort to slow the spread of the virus and keep businesses open, many communities have created mask mandates. Make sure you're aware of these in your home county as well as if you should travel. Here's a link to Waterloo mandates.

Flu Shots are Strongly Encouraged -  Flu shots are more important than ever this year as researchers predict a "twindemic". There’s no vaccine for Covid-19 just yet, but there’s help for influenza. By getting the flu shot the hope is we can blunt the effects of the flu, thereby avoid adding additional stress to our healthcare system as well as further compromising individuals at high risk including the people we serve. We are offering a flu shot clinic this month.

We Continue Commitment to Precautions -

• All staff must continue to monitor AND log symptoms prior to arriving to service sites.
• EPI strongly believes in the importance of natural supports and will do everything possible to meet the needs of the people we serve and their loves ones in a manner that is safe. Early on in the pandemic we enhanced our technology and staff  educated and trained to become creative to make sure visits happen in new ways like visiting outside in a safe distance or as simple as a video chat.
• Our visitors are still limited by appointment only at offices.
• Visitors inside the Hawkeye Child Development Center - ALC are still prohibited for the safety of the little ones.
• Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment is required on site - face shields and face masks for service sites - and strongly encourage face masks within the community.

Staying Positive - Research shows through consistent mask wearing, avoiding crowds, keeping distance, washing hands frequently, and partaking in outdoor activities over indoors, and of course, getting a flu shot, we can keep numbers low for both influenza and COVID-19.

Let's Continue to Work Together - We thank our staff for their dedication and commitment, and truly believe they are doing a wonderful job. We thank you for doing your part and invite you to visit our COVID-19 Response Resource page to follow along with our updates.