March 4, 2022
Dear St.Amant Families,
This week there are two new positive cases of COVID-19, two staff members: one in the Autism Programs and one in Clinical Services. There are no new positive cases of Covid-19 in people we support.
While we’re looking forward to working on new projects, we’re still putting considerable work into our pandemic planning: finding ways to balance new and exciting opportunities while managing the risk that those opportunities may bring.
On March 15, in Manitoba, mask requirements will be lifted for private businesses and many other public venues.
We anticipate there may be some public health regulation changes announced for our programs and services in the next week as well. As we’ve said before, minimally, our organization is required to follow public health regulations, that doesn’t mean that we cannot put more safeguards in place than the minimum requirements.
Throughout this pandemic, we have always prioritized your loved one’s health and safety. We will continue to take into consideration the fact that many of your family members are in congregate living environments with people whose vaccination statuses may vary. These two important factors will continue to influence our policies as we move forward.
As we shared last week, decisions will now be centered at the program or service level, which means some programs and services, may be easing precautions differently than others.
We will have more information to share with you next week, as our executive team works together to determine how we will start to introduce new freedoms while continuing to prioritize the health and safety of your loved ones and our staff.
Even though we knew these changes were coming, change can be difficult. Whether we see the easing of restrictions as good, bad, or neutral, it’s a change for all of us. Thank you for your ongoing patience and compassion as we navigate another week of new beginnings, and hopefully, a bit of spring weather!
John Leggat
President & CEO