In light of the very unfortunate and heartbreaking events that have recently occurred in Brooks, Alberta – affecting the lives of workers at the JBS Food Plant who have tested positive for COVID-19 – Avenue Living is taking additional precautionary safety measures in all of its suites, especially in Brooks.
One of the core beliefs that Avenue Living was founded on is “Duty of Care.” This enduring value guides us as we face the rapidly evolving challenge of COVID-19 in the areas in which we operate. Although there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among our residents or staff, we are assessing our strategies hourly to safeguard our communities during this pandemic.
According to Anthony Giuffre, Founder and CEO of Avenue Living, “What keeps me up at night is what I can’t control. Watching Alberta headlines and seeing recent news of the two plants (one in High River and one in Brooks) that have some level of COVID-19 spread is disheartening. We have approximately 319 units in Brooks, so we keep a very close eye on the community.”
“After seeing the news reports, we knew we needed to step up for the community. Our team procured an electrostatic sprayer and additional cleaning fluids. Use of the sprayer enables full coverage of disinfectant to thoroughly eliminate all germs and viruses,” said Louise Elsey, Chief Operating Officer. “We had our Regional Vice President personally collect the device in Calgary and deliver it to Brooks this morning, in an order to expedite the speed we could deploy the additional measures. Although we are not aware of any cases in our buildings, this has given us the ability to improve on our twice daily cleaning protocols, to include a daily full disinfection.”
“We are calling every single one of our residents in Brooks to provide them with comfort, information on our additional safety measures, in addition to access to resources such as our Prairie Relief Team,” added Giuffre.
“We are also working with Alberta Health Services (AHS), the Government as well as our employees to make sure we set up contingency plans to ensure we are ahead of the curve and monitor any reported cases – although to date, we have none,” said Giuffre.
Safety is of utmost importance to Avenue Living, who has been successful at sourcing out additional personal protective equipment (PPE) equipment. The company received a shipment of 35,000 sets of gloves and 10,0000 face masks to ensure the safety, security and peace of mind of its residents and staff.
“As soon as we became aware of the challenges at the JBS Food Plant, in addition to PPE, we proactively increased our cleaning and sanitary protocols in all of our suites in Brooks to limit the exposure to this outbreak,” said Giuffre.
Avenue Living is mindful of its actions, and strives to ensure each and every one of its residents stays safe, comfortable and peaceful during this distressing time.
