POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis was on-site at Pompano Beach’s John Knox Village last year as it became one of the first facilities to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to seniors and staff, but now the facility is seeing some COVID cases yet again.
The Department of Health in Broward County is back on the campus as positive cases have emerged once again despite the COO saying the “lion’s share” of the campus’ 925 residents opted to get vaccinated.
Local 10 News spoke with COO Bill Pickhardt Tuesday morning, who says the facility is choosing not to share the numbers of cases.
“Because of the privacy of our employees and our residents, and certainly that’s a management decision as a private entity to not disclose that information,” he said.
Pickhardt said a few residents tested positive for COVID-19 in early July. Since then, the Department of Health has provided testing access to all campus residents and staff and in the past week.
He said their positivity rate has fallen, though they are still not providing the exact number of what the rate has fallen to.
“Are there any numbers you can give us? Are there any hospitalizations?” Local 10 News reporter Saira Anwer asked.
“I can’t share that,” Pickhardt said.
Without releasing specific data, Pickhardt says the facility has been proactive and is in good shape.
“We made some decisions to go back to some tighter restrictions on campus, so we resumed our screening at the entrance,” he said.
There are also renewed mask requirements for staff members and mask recommendations for residents, as well as no more indoor dining and no events that could cause crowding.
“The majority of the folks that were on isolation are coming off isolation or are already off isolation,” Pickhardt said.