ARLINGTON — The Town of Arlington seeks to continuously update its residents on local preparedness efforts and impacts from the ongoing nationwide novel coronavirus situation.
Members of the Massachusetts National Guard will deploy to Sunrise of Arlington on Massachusetts Avenue tomorrow, Thursday April 16, to conduct widespread testing. This comes after significant discussion between Arlington leaders, administration at the facility and the Department of Public Health.
The testing will be conducted as part of the state’s Mobile Testing Program for nursing homes, assisted living facilities and rest homes. As a result of the program, residents and staff at such facilities are able to be tested for COVID-19 onsite, preventing those individuals from being exposed to even greater risk of the virus by having to leave the facility.
Testing results will be provided to the facility approximately two days after the test. For more information about the program, click here.
“This program is a critical resource for our assisted living facilities, and we’re thankful this initiative has been expanded to allow for onsite testing,” said Public Health Director Natasha Waden. “The Town of Arlington has been closely working with staff to provide support and guidance throughout this pandemic, and we will continue to closely monitor their needs moving forward as well.”
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization and has led Governor Charlie Baker to declare a State of Emergency in Massachusetts and led to a formal request, which was granted by the federal government, for a Major Disaster Declaration in the Commonwealth.
Family members of assisted living residents can call the state’s Nursing Home Family Resource Line at 617-660-5399 for information and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. The line is staffed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
Additional updates will be provided as information becomes available.
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