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News & Resources > Coronavirus & Influenza Updates

A Coronavirus Phone Line is available for families to call at 716.817.7445. An afterhours Coronavirus hotline is available for families and people enrolled in our Day Habilitation Programs and Vocational Services to share questions at 716.529.6505. Concerns may also be emailed to COVIDconcern@people-inc.org.

People Inc. also maintains an Emergency Closing Line for program participants, families and staff containing updated information about weather-related program closures. Call 716.817.5700 (Western New York) or 585.441.9393 (Greater Rochester Region) to find out if your program or location is closed.
 

Note:

On March 7, 2024, People Inc. updated the visitor policy for all residential facilities based on the recent Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) revised guidance on the "Management of Communicable Respiratory Viral Infections." Communicable Respiratory Viral Infections include: seasonal influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19, measles, varicella zoster (chicken pox), and herpes zoster (shingles).

  • If a person-served in a residence is under investigation (PUI) for or positive for COVID-19 or Influenza or Respiratory Viral Infection: Visitation is limited to outside (if weather permits)/Bedroom.
  • If a person-Served is exposed to a person under investigation for or positive for COVID-19 or Influenza or Respiratory Viral Infection: Visitation is limited to outside (if weather permits)/Designated area in the home away from people in isolation.
  • Face masks are required under the following circumstances:
  • Face Masks are required if a visitor had close contact with someone with COVID-19, wear a well fitted face mask around others for 10-days from last close contact. 
  • Face Masks are required if a visitor completed a minimum 5-day isolation period as a result of a COVID-19 infection and are required to be worn on days 6-10.
  • Face Masks are required if the home has a person receiving services under isolation for PUI or positive COVID-19 or the home is under isolation for a suspected or confirmed influenza.

More information is available at NYS OPWDD and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

May 22, 2020 A Message from OPWDD Commissioner Kastner

May 22, 2020

Please review the following message from the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

OPWDD understands how challenging and disruptive the temporary suspension of day services, home visits, community outings and other outdoor activities has been for the people we support and their families during the COVID-19 global pandemic response, but probably most unsettling is the inability to visit your child or other family member. OPWDD provided guidance to our residential provider partners back in March which directs them to make every attempt to provide families with opportunities to maintain contact with their loved ones. Below are just a few of the best practices we encourage all residential providers to engage in to allow more meaningful contact during this unprecedented time:

  • Develop a face-to-face video call program using programs such as Skype, Facetime, Google Meets or Zoom 
  • Arrange in-person through the window calls or visits with family and friends 
  • Develop a family call program where activities or social work staff call families regularly with clinical updates 
  • Establish an ambassador program that makes support staff available to answer phones and connect family members to nursing staff 
  • Hold weekly webcasts from the leadership to answer live questions from families 
  • Provide daily updates from the leadership of the facility on the facility’s web page 
  • Modify the facility’s web page to include COVID-19 information and communication resources 
  • Provide written communication via email and US Mail with regular updates surrounding the facility’s COVID-19 response plan 

OPWDD continues to encourage residential facilities to keep the lines of communication with residents and families open. We remain in constant contact with the NYS Department of Health on best practices and we hope to be able to provide expanded safe visitation guidance and guidelines related to the resumption of programs very soon, as regions across the state slowly begin the process of reopening. Moving forward, our number one priority will be to continue to ensure the health and safety of the people we support as we make the transition to a “new normal.”

You can sign-up online to receive the latest updates from OPWDD via email or check the OPWDD website frequently for information relating to COVID-19. 

Sincerely,
Theodore Kastner M.D, M.S.
Commissioner