Coachella Valley Rescue Mission working to contain COVID-19 outbreak
A COVID-19 outbreak at the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission has led to more than a dozen positive tests. A representative from the mission told News Channel 3 they are working on containing the outbreak and those who have tested positive are receiving medical attention.
“The Coachella Valley Rescue Mission experienced some positive results with some of our clients in our emergency shelter," said Scott Wolf, Development Director, CVRM.
Wolf says 16 of their clients first tested positive for COVID-19 two weekends ago. All of their clients and staff members undergo weekly testing to try and detect and prevent COVID-19 from spreading on campus.
“Whether they’re vaccinated or not...we want them to test...just to make sure," said Wolf.
In this case, the mission says all but one of those positive cases were in vaccinated individuals. They were all asymptomatic.
The mission says out of the 16 people that originally tested positive two weekends ago, 12 have now tested negative.
Wolf says under normal circumstances, they would have helped the positive individuals quarantine in local hotels. However, valley events in town limited their ability to do so.
“Because of the pride weekend, the festivals, a farmer’s market...there were no hotel rooms. So we had to be the most responsible to the clients we serve. It would have been wrong for us to say, well, now you’re out on the streets," said Mark McGowan, Program Coordinator, CVRM.
Alternatively, they had the positive clients quarantine in a designated part of their annex on site.
“Whether they have COVID-19 or not...we’re never going to turn our back on them. That’s not who the mission is. The mission is about serving people under all kinds of circumstances," said McGowan.
The mission says as a result they’ve increased sanitation procedures -- cleaning areas every four hours.
“We will continue to work with other agencies and the county of Riverside to make sure we’re doing exactly what we need to do to ensure our clients health and safety," added Wolf.
