Friendship Haven said 649 employees and residents at its facilities have tested negative for COVID-19 — welcome news after one resident tested positive on June 3.

Friendship Haven tested Simpson Health Center residents and employees June 3 -4, receiving results clearing that facility on campus Thursday.

Remaining staff and residents were tested on Monday, and all but three have returned negative. Friendship Haven awaits results for just two employees and one resident.

“This is good news, however, we remain cautiously optimistic,” said Julie Thorson, president and CEO of Friendship Haven. “Surveillance testing is a point-in-time testing measure only. We recognize and watch the virus spread in Webster County, and we must continue to be on guard.”

She said Friendship Haven will continue to monitor and test residents showing symptoms of the virus, as it has been, following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and screening employees before and after shifts.

Thorson thanked employees for their “perseverance and grace” under “a tremendous amount of stress and pressure.”

“They are doing this during a time in our history where residents for months now have been unable to be with their families,” she said. “This has created a great deal of heartache for everyone.”

She said the target testing has given the nursing home and senior living facility reassurance that employees are doing the right thing, even outside of work.

Though there are plans for reopening the campus, implementation of them won’t begin until the campus is virus-free for an unspecified period of time.

The reopening will be a “slow and thoughtful process,” Thorson said, but until the pandemic is over, Friendship Haven employees will remain vigilant to protect those most vulnerable to the deadly virus.

COVID-19 cases in Webster County have nearly doubled since the single Friendship Haven resident tested positive on June 3, from 47 to 90 by the end of Thursday.