Live Update to Residents-April 23, 2020
Daily Live updates to residents on our in-house TV970 have become a popular way for us to stay in touch while social distancing! Today’s update featured John Burns, President and CEO; Sherry Grady, Vice President Facilities Management; and Lynn McClintock, Director Pastoral Care.
The following updates were shared during the live briefing on TV970.
John Burns
Nationally, there have been more than 856,000 COVID-19 cases and 48,000 deaths. As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) reports:
• 64,518 people have been tested for COVID-19.
• There have been 732 new positive cases since yesterday. Total positive COVID-19 cases are 10,998.
• 1,379 have been hospitalized
• 372 total deaths
• 1,567 have recovered, including 70 since yesterday
• We have 718 cases in Henrico County. There are 259 in the City of Richmond, 402 in Chesterfield County and 99 in Hanover County.
There are several organizations modeling when states and countries will peak in terms of cases and deaths. Modeling from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) has been accurate with other states that are ahead of Virginia in the COVID-19 curve. They predict that this week will be the peak for number of cases and deaths in Virginia.
We are awaiting testing results on four employees who had previously tested positive for COVID-19. All four have received one negative test result. We hope to get their second negative test results soon, which would deem them recovered, and they will be able to return to work.
Sherry Grady
Recycling and Trash
In the Tower, residents may take their recycling to the laundry rooms on each floor. Please do not recycle the Styrofoam containers that meals are delivered in. Throw them away with your regular trash. Housekeeping is no longer picking up trash, so please take your trash to the trash chute and do not sit it out in the hallway, unless you are under mandatory quarantine.
Tower Green
The Tower Green project is progressing. The gazebo is being constructed today. Landscape materials are starting to arrive. Construction should be nearly complete within the next three to four weeks. Some furniture will not arrive for about five weeks due to shutdowns related to COVID-19.
Crane
A crane is on-site today to remove debris from the roof of the Courtyard Apartments. The work will be completed today.
Flooring
A new medallion and border carpet for Foundation Hall have been ordered. Installation will take place on May 4 beginning around 8 p.m. and be completed that night.
Lynn McClintock – Pastoral Care
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Fred Rogers (“Mr. Rogers”)
Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Prayer
Read us a story tonight, Kind God,
about folk who believe hopeless
is a word not found in their vocabulary,
read us a story about teachers who share
their understanding of the mystery of numbers
until the struggling student says, ‘ah ha!’,
read us a story about the doctor in Atlanta
who leaves her family behind
to care for strangers in New York City.
tell us a tale tonight, Word-shaper,
about people who are willing to risk loneliness
so that neighborhoods might survive.
tell us a tale about an assistant headmaster
in a school in England who makes lunches for 80 kids
and walks 5 miles a day, every day, to deliver them.
tell us a tale about children who, with only chalk
in their hands, paint word pictures of hope
on the sidewalks and driveways on their street.
sing us a song tonight, Lyricist of love,
about those who share their lives
with those forgotten by the ones
who make sure everyone notices them.
sing us a song about people who, because
they are working from home, decide to foster
dogs and discover those forever friends they didn’t
know they were looking for at the beginning.
sing us a song about the volunteers at the dog shelter
who are throwing a big party because, for the first time,
all the kennels are empty, which fills their hearts to overflowing.
read to us, tell us tales, sing to us this night,
Our God, so we may fall asleep to dream of all the wonderful
things that are happening in the midst of uncertainty. Amen.
-by Rev. Thom M. Shuman
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman