A coronavirus outbreak at a skilled nursing facility off the central coast of California has killed nine people and infected more than 60 residents and staff, health officials said Wednesday.
The outbreak at the Watsonville Post Acute Center in Santa Cruz County has reduced the rate of new COVID-19 cases in that county and across California.
The first case was found Sept. 17 when a resident tested positive for Covid-19 after a relative went to the hospital for medical reasons, said the county’s deputy public health officer, Dr. David. Said David Gilariasi.
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Coronavirus is killing nine people and infecting more than 60 at a nursing facility in Santa Cruz, officials say.
He said a quick test showed another two dozen residents were infected with the virus, but they showed no symptoms.
The facility currently has 56 residents. Seventeen are currently Covid-19-positive and isolated from other residents, 27 were tested negative but were isolated due to suspicious contact and a dozen residents showed no evidence of disclosure, Khilariasi said.
Gillardyce said 15 staff members who tested positive were segregated at home or in a hotel room provided by the county.
This created a staffing problem and members of the National Guard were brought in to help, he said.
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Half died in the last two weeks, and the rest happened over the weekend, he said. They represent half of the 18 COVID-19 deaths in the county since the epidemic began.
“We don’t know right now what is causing this blow,” he erupted. “I’ve been trying to find this out every day with their medical director.”
Public health workers in the state are also involved, he said.
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Other nursing facilities in the county have shown only a handful of cases in recent months, he said.
Skilled nursing facilities were hotspots for COVID-19 infection in the early months of the epidemic. Residents are usually older and have a variety of health problems that put them at risk for serious cases of coronavirus.
At least 4,692 residents and staff members, representing one-third of all COVID-19s in California, have died since the onset of the epidemic, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Last week, government Gavin News signed into law a law requiring skilled nursing facilities to allow disease-related deaths during a disease crisis to be reported to the state’s public health department within 24 hours. The move also requires nursing homes to have a full-time “infection preventer” on staff and a plan to prevent infection.
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