The Wood County Committee of Aging will be closing all eight of its senior center locations to the general public on Friday, March 13, at 1 pm. As of right now, the closures will be in effect through March 31. As March 31 approaches, the WCCOA will consult with Wood County Commissioner Ben Batey on the status of re-opening.
The senior centers have been reinforcing the importance to our participants of remaining at home and avoiding public gatherings – including church, restaurants, and movies.
The WCCOA is also encouraging people who normally eat at the senior center locations to take advantage of home delivered meals during this time.
Those most at risk for dire consequences related to the coronavirus are predominately the population served by WCCOA. That being said, WCCOA has put in place a plan for modified operations. This will be our starting point and will be modified as need arises or recommended by the Wood County Health Department.
This plan calls for the following:
- Medical escort will be provided on a case by case basis (but not for clients who are symptomatic of the virus).
- WCCOA will work with the Wood County Health Department to access masks for use by staff and volunteers who will be delivering meals and/or working directly with the public.
- All senior center locations will be closed to participants and the general public.
- All congregate meal clients will be offered home delivered meal service during the duration of the sites being closed.
- All current home delivered meal clients will continue to receive meals.
- All participants will receive one hot lunch delivered daily and will be offered a weekly drop of seven frozen meals to reheat for dinner.
- WCCOA will be developing a modified menu for the timeframe determined for the closure. This menu will offer one entrée rather than a choice and during Lent all Friday menus will be meat-free (i.e. vegetable lasagna or macaroni and cheese).
- Staff and volunteers who will be delivering home delivered meals will not be entering homes unless absolutely necessary to make the delivery. Staff/volunteers will also be instructed to remain at least six feet away from a client if they need to enter the residence. The clients will be asked to have a table/surface near the inside of the door or on their front porch or in their garage for meals to be placed upon at delivering. In order to assure that the client is well, the staff/volunteer will have a visual of the client or at minimum voice interaction through the door.
- All centers and staff will increase the frequency of sanitizing their work areas and public areas with disinfectant which has the compounds necessary to “kill” “Human Coronavirus.” This includes disinfecting agency vehicles.
- All centers will be thoroughly cleaned prior to re-opening following the closure
- All staff will be reassigned duties which will support the delivery of our identified essential services, most notably home delivered meals.
We will also be contacting management at the senior living apartments throughout Wood County for their assistance in organizing the ability to make a single drop within their specific complex – and for the management and their maintenance staff to deliver to specific apartments. This will reduce exposure of WCCOA staff and volunteers should a resident within a complex be infected with the Coronavirus.
Those Wood County residents who do not currently frequent a senior center in Wood County and who opt to follow the recommendation to remain at home and avoid crowds and public places, and who may find that they would benefit from participating in the home delivered meals programs, call WCCOA at 419-353-5661 for additional information.
