Murphy – Murphy Rehabilitation & Nursing got its first positive COVID-19 test result last week, and Administrator Kelly Roberts hopes it is the nursing home’s last.
“We’re disappointed,” Roberts said Thursday. “But we’re very proud of our infection control process.”
The confirmed case was the result of one of the facility’s routine procedures to help keep residents safe.
The home’s policy is to quarantine and test all newly admitted and readmitted residents on the first day they are in or return to the facility, then test again on the 11th day. After 14 days of remaining healthy in quarantine, they may go to other halls in the facility.
After the positive result returned for a resident that was admitted, the Cherokee County Health Department tested all 88 residents and 115 staff, including contracted staff. Those who were not available for testing because they were on leave will be tested before returning to work.
Only a handful of results were back Monday afternoon, Health Director David Badger said. He expected the remainder of the tests to return soon.
As far as he knew, the resident was doing well and was not experiencing symptoms. Roberts has been working closely with the health department throughout the pandemic, and said she’s interested to see what the contact tracing reveals.
Badger commended the nursing home for responding quickly and helping get all residents and staff tested.
“I’m appreciative of the ongoing work they’ve been doing,” Badger said.
Roberts said the facility has been following every guideline set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services, the health department and their own corporate policies. In fact, part of their corporate policy to keep the facility virus-free has been for staff to wear a mask when in public, like going to the grocery store.
"So far, this has kept us very safe,” she said.
Valley View Care & Rehabilitation in Andrews had one resident test positive in April. All other residents and staff were tested, and those results returned negative.
The CDC lists people ages 65 and older, especially those who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility, as high risk for severe illness from COVID-19. The state defines an outbreak in a facility as two or more confirmed positive test results.
Those ages 65 and older account for 12 percent of the total cases the state has had, but account for 80 percent of the deaths following a COVID-19 positive test. In nursing homes, there have been 4,385 cases and 654 deaths as of Monday.
The local nursing home case, plus nine other confirmed cases announced in the last week, brings the county’s total to 45 cases since March. Of those, 31 people have recovered from the illness as of Monday, and only one has died after testing positive. Four cases the county is reporting are residents of another state.
The two non-residents who received positive test results Friday were visiting the county for essential work and working together. After being tested, the two individuals decided to return to their homes outside the state to isolate.
Like the two other positive cases of non-residents tested in Cherokee County, these two will not be recorded as North Carolina cases, but the county will continue to track the cases as they tested positive in the county.
Seven more individuals received positive test results Monday, with four announced in the early afternoon and three later in the day. These seven residents were determined to not be related to any previously announced cases and were not related to each other. All were isolated in their homes, and contact tracing was being performed by the health department.
Anyone who experiences symptoms should contact their primary care provider, the health department or urgent care. According to the CDC, symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and loss of taste or smell. Symptoms range from mild to severe.
As of Monday, North Carolina had 63,484 positive cases of COVID-19 and 1,325 deaths related to the virus since the beginning of March. More than 45,000 of those cases are presumed to be recovered. More than 886,000 North Carolinians have been tested for the virus.
Local residents are reminded to continue practicing measures to prevent spreading the virus, like using good hygiene habits, staying home if sick and social distancing. The CDC believes the virus is spread primarily through close contact with another person, and recommends people maintain social distancing of about 6 feet, wash hands often with soap and water, disinfect surfaces and wear a cloth face covering when social distancing is difficult.
Nursing home resident, 9 others test positive
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