May 28. Steven Jewell, executive director of The Pines at Davidson, says the senior complex is ready to start to offer activities on campus since suspending them in early March. Activities will include fitness classes, including some via Zoom, outdoor recreation, local road trips and Bingo with appropriate physical distancing.

“We will seek to strike a balance between the resumption of activities and our continued extreme vigilance to the danger of COVID-19,” Jewell said.

The highly contagious nature of the virus is becoming more clear, as well as how COVID-19 is transmitted. The greatest risk for spreading the virus from one individual to another is through contact with respiratory droplets, Jewell said.

While The Pines isn’t perfect, it has done a good job of controlling the spread of COVID-19 in a conducive environment. The facility has had seven COVID-19 cases among its elderly residents and no deaths.

The Pines at Davidson has 400 senior residents on a 140-acre campus in a variety of living settings ranging from apartments to cottages. At Autumn Care, a 102-bed nursing home in Cornelius—albeit an entirely different setting with a different array of patients and staff—there have been 43 cases and 18 deaths. To view COVID-19 data from NC congregate living facilities, click here.

“Wearing a mask serves as a barrier to prevent your respiratory droplets … from potentially exposing others,” Jewell said.

With the increased activity level of Phase 2 all around The Pines, potential virus exposure has significantly increased.

“As much as we might like to put one giant mask across the entire outside world, that of course is simply not possible,” Jewell said.

Instead, the safety of all our residents and staff is largely in your hands through your practices. Please stay safe. We want nothing more than for residents and staff of The Pines to enjoy the new activities to come and for our community to thrive, in spite of the virus.