Dominican Oaks reports 1st virus case
SANTA CRUZ >> Dominican Oaks, a residential care facility in Santa Cruz, sent a notice to residents this week asking them to isolate after its first case of COVID-19 was reported at the facility.
In a letter obtained by the Sentinel, Dominican Oaks administrator Deborah Routley requested all residents stay in their apartments.
Routley acknowledged the case of COVID-19 at the facility but did not elaborate Wednesday morning, stating that she would get back to the Sentinel with specifics later in the day. “I wouldn’t call it an outbreak,” Routley said. In residential care and skilled nursing facilities, one case is all it takes to constitute a COVID-19 outbreak, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Routley later referred the Sentinel to Dignity Health communications manager Claire Henry, as Dignity owns Dominican Oaks. Henry called details around possible positive tests “private employee information (she) is not authorized to share.”
Jason Montiel of the California Department of Social Services’ Public Affairs and Outreach Programs said Wednesday night that the agency that licenses the facility cannot provide comment on specific cases. He linked to data on residential care facility numbers on the Social Services website, which did not include a listing for Dominican Oaks.
“Dear Residents, We have become aware of a person in our community that has tested positive for COVID-19,” Routley wrote in a memo to residents on Monday. “All activities will be canceled… A memo will be going out with information regarding next steps.”
It is unknown whether this individual is a resident or a staff member at Dominican Oaks.
Four new deaths revorted
The County of Santa Cruz reported four new fatalities related to COVID-19 on its dashboard in the last 24 hours, three of which were tied to skilled nursing facilities.
The 61st death was a white woman in her 60s. She was a resident of Pacific Coast Manor. The 62nd death was a white woman at least 90 years of age. She was a resident of Santa Cruz Post Acute. The 63rd death was a white woman in her 80s. She was also a resident of Santa Cruz Post Acute. The 64th death was a Latino man in his 70s. He was not a resident of any skilled nursing or residential care facilities in the county.
All but the man had underlying health conditions that contributed to their deaths, though the virus was the main cause.
Santa Cruz County Public Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel and Deputy Public Health Officer Dr. David Ghilarducci spoke of the tragic pattern of deaths at the county skilled nursing and residential care facilities, mainly beginning late this year. Ghilarducci admitted that county health officials speak of the issue often and that he has become frustrated with the feeling it’s nearly impossible for the disease not to spread in the congregate living facilities.
“I think that what happened was, as a number of cases in the community went up, the likelihood of a staff member coming in with an unknown infection came up as well,” he said. “People got tired and the virus does not give you a break, (it) sees an opening and it takes it. It’s been remarkable.”
But Newel said that the nature of the care that skilled nursing and residential care facility staff members supply is what makes them so prone to transmitting and receiving infection.
“They’re feeding (residents), changing clothes, changing undergarments, bathing (them),” Newel said. “There’s no blame to anyone about how transmission happened.”
According to the California Department of Public Health, 39,122 residents and 31,847 staff members of skilled nursing facilities across the state have tested positive for COVID-19 at some point since the pandemic began. Nearly 5,600 of those residents and 167 of those staff members have succumbed to the illness that comes from the coronavirus. Out of the six skilled nursing facilities that have reported outbreaks since March, three facilities have active cases of COVID-19 at this time — Santa Cruz Post Acute, Pacific Coast Manor in Capitola and Valley Convalescent Hospital in Watsonville.
The California Department of Social Services data shows that of the four residential care facilities that have experienced an outbreak in Santa Cruz County, just one facility has active cases Thursday — Aegis Assisted Living of Aptos.