■ Two are dead and five infected at assisted living facility.

Fort Lauderdale facility didn’t screen properly for virus, DeSantis says

An assisted-living facility in Fort Lauderdale failed to take precautions and allowed the new coronavirus to spread among its residents, leaving two people dead and at least five others infected, the governor says.

Test results are pending for six more residents from Atria Willow Wood who have symptoms of the disease, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday, citing new findings about what led to the cases.

“What the investigation has found out is that construction workers, staff and cooks who were ill were not screened,” the governor said at a Tallahassee news conference. “They were allowed to go work their jobs and mix with the residents unimpeded.”

Atria Senior Living called DeSantis’ remarks about the facility false, saying it did all it could to protect residents from the coronavirus and that several agencies had reviewed its actions “each step of the way.”

“The Governor’s comments today are a completely inaccurate representation of our response to protect the health and safety of our residents,” Atria Senior Living

said late Friday. “Beginning March 3, we have been actively screening all visitors and prohibiting anyone from working in the community if they are unable pass our screening, well before any state guidance on this was provided.”

Concern about the virus spreading among the state’s vulnerable elderly population prompted health officials over two weeks ago to urge nursing homes and long-term care centers to screen vendors and employees for signs of the virus. On March 13, the governor ordered lockdowns barring all visitors and family members for 30 days.

But Willow Wood — with 219 residents in its buildings — allowed sick workers through its doors for a period of time, DeSantis said.

“That is exactly what you are not supposed to do,” he said, while urging other facilities to take preventative measures.

“If you are an operator of one of these facilities you need to take responsibility to protect your residents,” the governor said. “This is a virus that is in certain communities spreading in Florida and Broward is one of them.”

Broward County has 305 long-term care facilities and 27 adult day care centers. Some 13,000 seniors live there, and 1,700 others attend adult day care.

DeSantis said law enforcement agencies will help “monitor the situation” at Willow Wood. He said he requested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to bring in an infection control specialist.

And he asked the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration to staff the facility “around the clock.”

Atria Senior Living says it had stepped up its efforts to protect residents this month.

“Over the past two weeks, we have been in daily communication with the different state and local agencies, as well as the CDC,” it said. “They have reviewed and approved all of our protocols each step of the way, including as recently as today. To say that we are not doing everything in our power to keep our residents and employees safe is unacceptable, inaccurate and reckless.”

Florida health officials earlier this week announced that 19 long-term care facilities across the state have a suspected or confirmed case of the coronavirus.

They have refused to say which ones.

No information was released about the second person from Broward who died, including the gender or age.

The first victim from Willow Wood, an 18-acre complex on Commercial Boulevard, was identified as Richard Curren, 77. Fort Lauderdale paramedics took him to the hospital March 13, said his wife, Sheila.

She said she and her husband had not traveled recently and frequently stayed inside their apartment.

“It seems it’s community spread. … It’s just out there,” she said.

There are now 563 documented cases of the new coronavirus statewide, according to the latest state figures. Eleven people have died, including the two from Broward, as of Friday night.

Willow Wood’s owner also commented Friday about the deaths.

“Over the past few days, we have had three residents from our Willow Wood community pass away,” Mike Gentry, Atria Senior Living senior vice president, said in a statement. “It is confirmed that two of the tests were positive for COVID-19 and one was negative. Our thoughts are with all of the residents’ families during this difficult time.”

Willow Wood, under its current ownership, has a history of inspection citations including three in the last three years for violations such as failing to follow required procedures, failing to follow medication orders and failing to teach staff how to provide appropriate care.

The facility has been cited for deficiencies four times since 2017, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration.

The most recent violations happened last May, including a failure to assess appropriate care for two of five resident cases that were reviewed, and failing to display telephone numbers to lodge complaints. The problems were corrected by July.

At a March 4 news conference in Orlando, the governor expressed the need for nursing homes and assisted-living facilities “to adopt best practices and restrict people from entering these facilities, particularly if they’re showing symptoms of illness.”

DeSantis added, “It’s just not something that you want to be able to allow to get in there.”