VISITS 25 active outbreaks

Once visits are allowed to resume at a facility, each resident is allowed to have one designated visitor. Visitors will need to be screened for fever and COVID-19 symptoms, and both the visitor and the resident must wear facial coverings and adhere to social distancing during the time they spend together.

The new list includes Reo Vista Healthcare Center in Paradise Hills, which previously had the largest nursing home outbreak in the state, but has not reported any new cases for more than six weeks.

Just because a facility is now able to allow indoor visitations doesn’t mean that they will be ready to start doing so immediately.

At last week’s press conference, Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten announced that 881 residents and 584 health care workers have tested positive for novel coronavirus in nursing homes, up from 868 and 560 respectively on Sept. 2. There are currently 25 active and 52 inactive outbreaks in the region’s nursing homes, which has led to 159 deaths among residents and health care workers combined.

During the previous week’s press conference, Wooten announced there were 26 active outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities out of 74 total outbreaks.

Resident cases of novel coronavirus have more than doubled at one La Mesa nursing home over the past two weeks, making it the ninth most prominent facility for COVID-19 in the county, according to the California Department of Public Health database for COVID-19 cases at skilled nursing facilities.

With 50 residents and 21 health care workers testing positive, resident cases at the Community Care Center in La Mesa have more than doubled between Aug. 26 and Sept. 9. Less than 11 residents and no health care workers at Community Care Center have died from COVID-19. San Diego County and state public health officials do not disclose exact case numbers at facilities if there are fewer than 11.

Community Care Center has now surpassed two facilities that previously had two of the most prominent outbreaks for COVID-19, knocking Villa Rancho Bernardo Care Center in San Diego to 10th place and Victoria Post Acute Care in El Cajon to 11th.

At Carmel Mountain Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in San Diego, 16 residents and 11 health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19 since cases at the facility were first reported on the state’s database on Aug. 31.

Although cases and outbreaks continue to pop up in nursing homes throughout the county, there are still some facilities that do not report any cases among residents or health care staff.

As of Wednesday, there are 28 nursing homes in the county that have not reported a positive case among residents, and five facilities that have no reported cases of COVID-19 among either residents or employees, according to the state’s database.

In an all-facilities letter on Sept. 3, the California Department of Public Health encouraged skilled nursing facilities throughout the state to participate in the Health Services Advisory Group and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services program to improve nursing home quality.

Through this initiative, nursing homes can receive real-time data to help prevent and manage the spread of the novel coronavirus within the facility.

Facility Reo Vista Healthcare Center Avocado Post Acute Country Hills Post Acute The Springs at Pacific Regent Windsor Gardens Convalescent Center of San Diego Magnolia Post Acute Care Brighton Place San Diego Country Manor La Mesa Healthcare Center Community Care Center Villa Rancho Bernardo Care Center

lauren.mapp@sduniontribune.com