Leadership member of an Assisted Living Community

Almost 24 months if navigating COVID caring for a vulnerable population.

Kellie DeCicco

2020-2022

Hi! I am a secondary Director of an assisted living community in Burlington. On February 27, 2020 I contracted COVID 19. I have a side hustle leading paint parties and I believe that is when I got sick. This is before we even had testing sites. I was a healthy 40 year old woman. I developed long hauler symptoms before it was a thing. I am still working through the toll it has taken. In the meantime, I am co-directing an assisted living community while nation wide the biggest casualties are found within these communities. From March-November we managed to keep the virus out of our community 100%. It was amazing. After Thanksgiving break a student working with us from a local college held the hand of an anxious resident with memory loss. The student tested positive after their sibling, another student, had a meal together. That resident died within 10 days, as well as 5 others on our memory care community. Almost 9 months of hard work and then 20 days of hell. Then it stopped. The outbreak passed. This lasted until Christmas. The dust started to settle. On December 29 I received a call from my father that him and my mother (64) tested positive for covid. The vaccine was just being released. My father had his first shot as he works in a hospital. My mother had not yet. My mothers O2 levels tanks. She was hospitalized in isolation for 6 weeks and died on February 18, 2921. She was a firefighter. An EMT. Actively. She had a beautiful funeral on Long Island and barely anyone wore masks. I have since continued to ensure the safety of our residents, have seen the emotional, social, and physical toll the pandemic has taken on them,and everyone else I cross paths with. COVID had become politicized and that has caused deaths. I want if documented that being vaccinated or having to wear a mask is considered a loss of freedom to many Americans. I tested positive for COVID for the second time on January 7, 2022. Fully vaccinated, boosted, and masked. This is our new normal.