Former guest of Lewiston wellness shelter tests positive for COVID-19

LEWISTON — A former guest of the Lewiston wellness shelter has tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official with the agency that operates the facility.

Sarah Pratt, a Community Concepts Wellness shelter attendant, marks the start of the meal line at the Lewiston Armory in April. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

Jennifer Boenig, acting communications and marketing manager of Community Concepts, said the 24-hour shelter opened April 22 and is modeled after a similar facility at the University of Southern Maine’s campus in Portland.

The wellness shelter is intended to provide emergency shelter in a setting that allows people to follow social-distancing protocols.

Boenig wrote in a prepared statement that Community Concepts has been in contact with the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention to trace who might have been exposed to the person.

Guests at the Lewiston wellness shelter have their temperature taken twice a day, and are encouraged to wear masks that are provided to them, according to Boenig.

She added any guest who shows signs of illness is “encouraged to get tested at one of the local hospitals and not allowed into the shelter.”

Those who show symptoms of COVID-19 infection are also given information about places to quarantine themselves while awaiting test results, including a Preble Street facility.

“This is a vulnerable group of people and we want to make sure every person in our community has a safe place to stay,” said Shawn Yardley, CEO of Community Concepts, in the prepared statement.

“The Lewiston shelter remains a wellness shelter, and we will continue to follow the Maine CDC guidelines and recommendations to keep guests, staff and the greater community safe.”

The wellness shelter is run out of the Lewiston Armory at 65 Central Ave.