We have a staff member who has tested positive for Covid-19. This staff member interacted with clients the mornings of Wednesday, October 14 and Thursday, October 15. Minor symptoms appeared Fri morning, October 16 and the staff member was sent home and tested. A positive test result was confirmed on Tue October 20 at 11am. Clients that came in contact with this staff member were notified by phone or in person on Tuesday, October 20.
Starting on Friday, October 16, after the staff member was sent home, staff for follow on shifts were reduced to the owner, and two other staff members who had direct exposure to the symptomatic staff member. Remaining staff members were told to stay home as a precaution. The owner and the two staff members who worked October 17-20 are all currently asymptomatic.
Beginning Tuesday, October 20 at 1pm, Mary Helinski, the owner, will be the only person at the kennel. She has been in contact with the infected staff member and is waiting for her test results. Employees will not be allowed back until a negative test result is received, or if positive, the respective quarantine period is complete and they are healthy. Test results are usually back in 3-4 days, so if test results come back negative, we can go back to normal routine by week starting October 25. If tests come back positive, however, the staffing shortfall may continue through the end of the month due to mandated quarantine periods.
Because of all the precautions we have had in place since the pandemic started, I expect the risk to clients to be very low. That said, everyone should use this information and make an informed decision on whether you should be tested yourself. Phone calls have already been made to the clients who came into contact with the infected employee, and names will be provided to the health department for contact tracing as required by the State.
All pets currently boarding will continue to get the same level of care, however, due to the staffing shortfall, a la carte items may be reduced if they cannot be adequately provided. This will be a last resort only, and your bill will be reduced accordingly if that happens.
If you wish to cancel your reservation while we get through the next week of staffing shortages and potential quarantine period, there will be no cancellation fees charged. Please call or email us to cancel.
For our daycare clients, if you can keep your dogs at home while we get through this, it would be greatly appreciated. However, we will not turn anyone away if you need to bring them.
As always, I will keep you updated once we start getting test results back.