Susie Flanagan still mourns the loss of her 91-year-old mother, who died of COVID-19 in April.
So it really hurts when he leaves his home in Lopatcong Township and walks past a sign outside his mother’s old nursing home that says, “We beat COVID.”
His teenage children ride it on a bicycle. His family simply cannot escape.
The sign indicates that Nora Giordano is no longer with them. That this Genesis HealthCare Brakeley Park Center resident, 290 Red School Lane, did not beat COVID-19.
“Do you have to do it in the neighborhood where people who lost family members live?” Flanagan said. “I am really horrified.”
The illness caused by the new coronavirus killed Giordano and the lives of at least 25 other residents of Brakeley Park nursing homes, according to the New Jersey list of long-term care facilities.
In all, 95 residents and 29 workers at Brakeley Park contracted the disease. At neighboring Genesis Lopatcong Center, 100 residents and 24 employees became ill and 27 residents died.
Genesis spokeswoman Lori Mayer asked lehighvalleylive.com to apologize to her loved ones injured by the sign. It will be removed, she said.
Flanagan was grateful to hear that the sign would fall.
Brakeley Park Center is currently free of COVID-19 cases and new resident tests and quarantines, Mayer said Wednesday night.
The center now admits new patients to a quarantine unit where they are monitored for 14 days. New residents are screened on days one, four, and 12 and symptoms are examined every eight hours. After two weeks, patients are discharged from the quarantine unit.
“Every day counts, and the fastest and most comprehensive tests are one of our best weapons against the spread of this virus,” Mayer said. “By identifying who has it and who doesn’t, early and often thereafter, we can separate the positive from the negative to save lives. This is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently released a guide to testing up to weekly. “
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced on May 12 that all residents and long-term care facility staff would be screened for coronavirus. The pandemic so far has claimed the lives of more than 6,500 nursing home residents in New Jersey.
In Warren County, 82% of its 147 COVID-19 deaths were residents of long-term care facilities. By contrast, nursing home residents account for just 34% of the county’s 1,230 cases as of June 30.
“States have a variable approach to these testing recommendations and it will be important for states to be vigilant, backed by adequate laboratory capacity and funds to handle volume,” Mayer said.
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Sara K. Satullo can be contacted at [email protected].
