NEW COVID-19 OUTBREAKS SURGE IN WV FACILITIES

(08/23/2020)

Long-term care facilities across West Virginia have seen a spike in positive coronavirus cases in recent weeks despite a recent ban on in-person visits. Red flags went up when 15 patients at a Ripley nursing home died earlier in the pandemic, but then widespread nursing home problems seemed under control until recently. Kanawha County officials reported Friday 23 residents and eight staff members at the Marmet Center tested positive for the virus. Elsewhere in the state, major outbreaks have been reported at Mercer, Monroe and Taylor County facilities. Forty-five cases were reported this week at Stonerise Healthcare’s Springfield Center in Monroe County. “We have 25 patients that are COVID-positive and we have 20 employees,” Larry Pack, Stonerise chief executive offer, said. Stonerise said it followed the rules for safety measures to contain the virus, but people with no symptoms made it through screening. “Somehow, even with all the precautions, even though we’ve done all the screening, the temperature taking, the masking, the handwashing -- somehow it found itself into the center,” Pack said. “It spread quite rapidly.”

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