Residents and staff at three seniors care homes run by Westwinds Communities have managed to stay COVID free.

CEO of Westwinds, Lauren Ingalls says they've been very fortunate that members of the staff were very careful with their interactions in the community.

"We did things like encourage staff when you're wearing a mask, go do your grocery shopping at the end of your shift, things like that to just make sure that they were protected in the community," she says.

Ingalls says they did have staff who came in contact with people who'd tested positive.

"We did have a situation where we had three of our employees who were resided with individuals who had tested positive from the outbreak at Cargill, so there some very tense moments as we were anticipating, when you live with someone, expecting them to contract COVID but fortunately that wasn't the case and our protocols at work also helped," Ingalls says.

She says they were very diligent about putting protocols in place right from the beginning of the pandemic.

They included making sure workers at Sandstone Lodge in Okotoks, Medicine Tree Manor in High River and High Country Lodge in Black Diamond, were only working at outside facilities and their sanitation protocol was more stringent than the Province's minimum standards.

And, she says, early on they were able to purchase PPE and even food in advance of a long shut down.

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