Virus death reported at Psychiatric Center
One patient died and five others were hospitalized after a coronavirus outbreak at the Capital District Psychiatric Center, according to one of the unions that represents employees at the staterun facility.
Overall, 18 patients in the facility ’s geriatric unit have tested positive for the virus, according to a spokesman for the Public Employees Federation.
The disclosure is the first to describe the scope of an outbreak in a unit the state has placed in quarantine to stop the spread of the virus.
The state Office of Mental Health, which over
sees the facility, on Wednesday declined to reveal how many patients and staff have been infected or whether anyone has died.
PEF President Wayne Spence issued a statement Thursday blaming the state for running facilities he described as “chronically understaffed,” adding “the nurses and direct care staff who are working do not have adequate personal protective equipment.” He also questioned the effectiveness of contact tracing and testing protocols.
“New York’s neglect of its most vulnerable citizens during this pandemic is shocking,” he said.
The mental health office has revealed little about the outbreak. Agency spokesman James Plastiras took issue with Spence’s remarks, saying the psychiatric center had one prior case, an infection from which a patient recovered in the early days of the pandemic’s spread in the U.S.
“The facts don’t support the claims as this facility went months without a case. But as we’ve seen in congregate settings everywhere, when the virus spreads in a local community it will eventually get in local care facilities,” he wrote in an email Thursday.
Plastiras did not directly address Spence’s assertion that staff did not receive adequate protective equipment, saying “we have implemented numerous infection control measures and safety protocols to protect the health and wellbeing of our patients and staff, including distribution of PPE and implementing daily screening of everyone entering the facility, and testing of all patients and staff.”
Though OMH has declined to reveal how many patients or staff were sickened or if anyone died in the current outbreak, Plastiras on Thursday said “one additional staff person” tested positive Thursday morning. No new patients have tested positive since Monday.
The state was first notified of a positive case at the facility on Nov. 27 and contacts of the person were isolated and tested as a result. Further testing, tracing and isolations were implemented “for any other individuals who tested positive,” he said.
“To protect our patients’ Protected Health Information we do not disclose numbers at facilities that have had five or fewer deaths,” he said in an email Wednesday. “However, across all of OMH’S 23 psychiatric centers, there have been 42 deaths of inpatients confirmed to have been caused by COVID -19.”
Plastiras said the state is testing staff and inpatients regularly in order to contain the outbreak and has provided staff and patients with personal protective equipment, and staff on the quarantined unit with enhanced protective equipment. All individuals are being screened prior to entering the building, and units are frequently disinfected, he said.
The Albany County Department of Health said the state Department of Health is handling the outbreak response, but confirmed that the local health department is dealing with contacts who do not work at the facility.
The state has taken several steps to slow the spread inside the facility. Screening measures for staff and patients were in place before the outbreak, and visits were limited to virtual settings, Plastiras said. Also prior to the outbreak, staff and patients were instructed to socially distance when possible and to practice infection prevention measures such as hand hygiene, he said.