COVID-19 deaths up to nine at facility
Life Care Center of Athens, Tennessee, on Monday reported another death at the senior living facility, putting the number of fatalities at nine residents.
That’s one more death since last Friday when the facility reported four more fatalities.
One-third of all U.S. coronavirus deaths are nursing home residents or workers, according to The New York Times.
The newspaper reported two days ago that 28,100 residents and workers have died from the coronavirus at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. The virus so far has infected more than 153,000 at some 7,700 facilities.
The latest figures from the Cleveland, Tennessee-based Life Care Centers of America location in Athens show that 71 residents have tested positive for COVID-19. The facility reported that 27 residents have tested negative for the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, 48 workers have tested positive for COVID-19, the center said. It reported that 16 associates have recovered
and met Centers for Disease Control guidelines for returning to work. The center said 80 employees have tested negative for COVID-19 and three tests are pending.
Jeffery Ricks, the center’s executive director, said that state and local health departments have been “extremely supportive, and we extend our sincere thanks.”
“We remain committed to following their guidance along with guidelines from the CDC,” he said.
The executive director said that residents who have tested both positive and negative for COVID-19 are checked multiple times per day for symptoms or changes in condition.
“If a resident who tested negative begins showing any symptom that could be associated with COVID-19, we retest them,” Ricks said.
He said that three residents remain hospitalized.
Life Care Centers of America is the nation’s largest private nursing home company.
A Life Care Centers nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, has seen more than 120 cases of coronavirus infections and at least 37 deaths. That facility emerged as an early center of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.