LEE COUNTY — In response to COVID-19 (coronavirus) the State of Illinois has requested Lifescape, and all senior organizations in Illinois, to suspend group senior activities and congregate gatherings.

In response to the state of Illinois’s request Lifescape will be suspending some of our services. These suspended services include Lifescape’s Health Promotion program and our senior congregate sites.

• Health Promotion programs include A Matter of Balance, Bingocize, Diabetes Self-Management Program, and Chronic Disease Self-Management Program.
• Closed congregate dining sites include: Keenage Center, GPAC Loves Park, Rochelle Hub City Center, Rock River Center, Amboy Com Center, and Lee County Senior Center.
• These Congregate sites will be closed starting Monday, March 16, 2020 and will be closed until further notice.
• All of Lifescape’s Health Promotion programs will be closed starting today, Thursday, March 12, 2020 will remain closed until further notice.

It is important to note that the suspended services WILL NOT include our Meals on Wheels program, Adult Protective Services, Adult Day Program, Comprehensive Care Coordination, and Advocacy & Assistance programs. Lifescape recognizes these programs are essential to the health and wellbeing to thousands of seniors in our 8-counties of service and we have no plan of closing these programs in response to COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Lifescape continues our mission to help care for and protect our vulnerable senior population. This includes providing helpful information that would improve their lives and the lives of the caregivers.

In our efforts to do so, providing information regarding respiratory illnesses such as the common cold, various flus, and the coronavirus will help with this mission. We recognize the importance of the recently identified coronavirus, however it is important for all of us to practice preventive measures for all respiratory illnesses.

Those preventive measures as recommended by the Center for Disease Control include:

• Washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. You can measure this by singing the “Happy Birthday song, or “Twinkle, Twinkle…little Star”. If soap and water are not available, please use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. If you use a tissue, please throw it away immediately.
• Clean and disinfect hard surfaces (tables, countertops, desks) with a disinfectant spray such as Lysol.
• Please stay in your home if you are sick.

If you or someone you are caring for start to experience a fever, cough, or shortness of breath, please seek medical attention immediately.