Atria Park of Pacific Palisades Residents, Employees Test Positive
By LILY TINOCO | Reporter
As cases of COVID-19 continue to climb throughout the state and county, 10 residents and nine employees at Atria Park of Pacific Palisades, a senior living facility located on Sunset Boulevard, have tested positive, Atria Media Relations confirmed to the Palisadian-Post on Monday, December 21.
“Two of the 10 residents are currently outside the community, while the other eight remain in the building, where they are in isolation and being cared for by designated caregivers who wear full PPE,” according to a statement. “The employees who tested positive are in isolation away from the community.”
According to the statement, Atria Park performed a “full community test for COVID-19” on December 15. At the time of the statement, they had received 49 negative test results.
By Sunday evening, December 27, Public Health reported that 12 staff members at Atria Park have tested positive, as well as 16 residents. Zero deaths have been reported.
Atria Park of Pacific Palisades last had two employees test positive for COVID-19 in May, following the death of one resident with COVID-19 on April 13. Though the resident received a positive test, the cause of death was determined to be related to an underlying, pre-existing health condition.
Jane Germaine, regional vice president of Atria Senior Living, said Atria has “rigorous” proactive testing, contact tracing and disease protocols in place, and is working closely with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on their procedures in fighting COVID-19.
“We are confident we are doing everything we can to protect our residents and staff in the face of an unprecedented public health situation,” she said. “We have also taken precautions to optimize staff and resident safety throughout the holidays and beyond.”
Germaine said Atria looks forward to the prospects of having its staff and residents vaccinated soon.
In a letter published December 11 by Chairman and CEO John Moore, Atria Park shared its residents are in the priority group that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended to receive the initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Atria released a COVID-19 tentative vaccination timeline with plans to administer the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in January 2021, a second clinic in February and a third in March.
“The vaccine is so important to the ongoing protection and well-being of our communities that at minimum we are going to strongly recommend it for both staff and residents,” Moore wrote in his letter.
The COVID-19 outbreak at Atria Park comes at the wake of staggering numbers across LA County. As the Post went to print Tuesday, December 22, Public Health had identified 634,849 positive cases of COVID-19 across the county when factoring in Long Beach and Pasadena with a total of 8,931 deaths. By Sunday, December 27, that number had reached 719,833, with 9,482 deaths.
“Since the beginning of the surge in November, cases have increased by a staggering 862%,” according to a statement from Public Health. “For the past three weeks, the county has nearly tripled the daily average number of cases; from 4,000 new cases a day to over 14,000 new cases a day. LA County is experiencing the fastest acceleration of new cases than at any other time during the pandemic.”
Public Health warned that without changes to the ways individuals celebrate the winter holidays, the county can expect “a surge on top of a surge on top of a surge.”
The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Pacific Palisades had reached 357, with 74 additional in the Palisades Highlands, as the Post went to print Tuesday evening. On Sunday, December 27, the number of cases reported by Public Health was at 428 in Pacific Palisades, with 84 in Palisades Highlands.
Editor’s note: This story was updated Sunday, December 27, with the most recent COVID-19 case numbers available as reported by Public Health.
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