A Montana nursing home rejected the free Covid-19 tests. Almost all residents are now infected and 8 have died


Almost all Canyon Creek Memory Care residents and staff now have Covid-19, and eight residents have died of the disease, according to officials.

On June 30, a Canyon Creek resident began showing symptoms of Covid-19, Chase Salyers, a spokesman for Koelsch Senior Communities, the company that manages the facility, told CNN.

After that person’s test came back positive, the center tested everyone on July 3, Salyers explained.

Those tests revealed that of the 59 Canyon Creek residents and 55 employees who were screened, 43 residents and 15 employees tested positive for Covid-19, the company said last week.

That number has grown since then. At least 55 residents and 36 staff members have tested positive, Pat Zellar, a spokesman for RiverStone Health, Yellowstone County’s public health department, told CNN.

As of Tuesday, eight residents have died from the disease, Zellar said. Two of those deaths have occurred since Sunday.

The state of Montana offered free tests on June 16, Salyers confirmed.

However, Salyers said the state testing program “would not really have evaluated all residents, but a limited sample of individuals within the community.”

“Also, from the start of the outbreak, residents of our community were already being evaluated and all of those results were negative,” added Salyers.

“Any of our residents who showed symptoms since the outbreak began were immediately referred for testing,” said Salyers.

Why did Covid-19 cost devastatingly to people in nursing homes?
The state of Montana has reported only 34 deaths from Covid-19 to date, according to state data. Yellowstone County accounts for 13 of those deaths, according to a RiverStone press release.

The eight deaths at Canyon Creek represent nearly 25% of the state’s death toll and more than 60% of the county’s death toll.

Koelsch Senior Communities manages more than 35 facilities in eight states across the country, according to its website.

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