HOLLAND, Mich. — Holland Rescue Mission staff were notified Wednesday of a positive case of COVID-19 in the Men’s Ministry Center.
Mission staff and Ottawa County Health Department officials worked quickly to identify close contacts of the infected resident, a news release said Friday.
These individuals are being quarantined off-site, as described in the official plan created by the health department and Mission leadership.
Other residents in the shelter were given rapid tests to determine if there were other positive cases not yet identified – and those results confirmed an additional 13 residents have the virus.
“Many of our residents have compromised immune systems and are very vulnerable, so we have taken every precaution to avoid outbreaks of illness within our walls,” Executive Director Darryl Bartlett said. “Our men’s shelter is primarily congregate living, with shared dormitory, bathrooms and dining room. We have established physical distancing as much as possible to avoid spreading the virus.”
Since the start of the pandemic, the Mission has scaled back or modified operations, services, activities and events and has limited non-essential visitors.