We at Somerset Court would like to thank our residents and their families and loved ones for your strength and perseverance in the face of this unprecedented challenge we are facing.

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has been the cause of a great deal of fear and hardship, especially for those people aged 65 and older.

Prior to the “shutdown” necessitated by the virus’ appearance, I think we all likely had taken for granted just how much comfort and love residents of long term care facilities derived from visits and hugs and kisses from their families.

One day, it was all taken away from them.

Not to sound too dramatic. Face Time, phone calls, visits through windows from the parking lot … there were other options to help ease the stress. But they were and are only Band-Aids for wounds that grow deeper as time passes.

At the time of this writing, we at Somerset Court await our second round of COVID-19 testing. And although Ward County has thus far not been a “hot spot” of positive cases, there have been a few positives trickling in and several mass testing events including our own are upcoming that could swing the number in the wrong direction.

We, the staff and residents of a long term care facility, pin our hopes on the continuing success of Ward County in avoiding large outbreaks of this virus.

The overall rates of deaths and hospitalizations for the entire population are relatively low.

But please consider this: The majority of our resident population is over 80 and almost every one of them has underlying health concerns. And as of June 3, 183 persons over the age of 80 in North Dakota; 42 died. That’s 23 percent.

Although many of you reading this needn’t worry about becoming seriously ill or dying from COVID-19, these residents that we have grown to know and love absolutely have to worry about those same things.

So please keep this in mind. Things are improving right now, but we’re not “out of the woods” just yet. That person you get close to at the grocery store when you have a slight case of the sniffles and accidentally sneeze on could be one of our staff members, who could then bring the virus into our facility while asymptomatic.

And as we move closer and closer to being able to reopen for visitation, the numbers increase on potential exposures to our residents.

Just try to remember, we’re all in this together. Please try to keep the vulnerable populations in mind and follow recommended guidelines to limit the spread of COVID-19 until the threat has completely passed.

By helping us, our wonderful residents get that much closer to being able to hug that family member or loved one again.

And that’s the best medicine they can take.