At least three residents, three staffers contract coronavirus at Turlock nursing home
Several employees and residents at the Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the facility website and an employee.
There were ambulances in the parking lot at the facility at 1111 E. Tuolumne Blvd., Friday. Some patients had been taken to a nearby hospital, according to an employee who asked that their name not be used.
A post on the center’s website Wednesday stated that three employees and three residents tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
The infected health care workers are noted on a California Department of Public Health list of coronavirus cases at nursing homes.
However, the employee said more people — residents and employees — had tested positive and others were awaiting test results on Saturday.
The three residents all have been hospitalized.
“We started sending people (to the hospital) today as a precaution,” the employee said, adding that those with “underlying issues” were the first to go.
The employee could not characterize the health conditions of those who tested positive.
No one answered the main phone number at the center Friday evening. There also was no answer at the main office for the center’s parent company, Covenant Care, in Orange County.
The online post said the center plans to test all of the 123 residents.
Turlock nursing, rehab issues statement
“We are in regular contact with state and local health departments and will continue to operate by the highest standards of safety, and in full compliance with guidance from these health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid,” the post said.
“All residents are being actively monitored for any signs or symptoms of respiratory concerns, including having their temperatures checked routinely. All staff, essential medical personal and vendors are clinically screened prior to entering our facility, including getting their temperatures checked, and wear personal protective equipment appropriate for their duties. We also continue to prohibit visitors.”
The employee confirmed that workers had “proper gear, N95 masks, shield masks, gloves and gowns.”
“We were all stocked up,” the employee said. “We were preparing for this ahead of time. We’ve heard all the way around that facilities have been positive and you hear it on the news ... so we were always prepared for it. ...
“(The employer) has been very helpful, very up front with us and very understanding with everything and all of our concerns,” the employee said.
The news comes as Stanislaus County reported Friday that six more people had tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to 264. Five Stanislaus County residents have died from the disease.
Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services spokesman Raj Singh said they were alerted to the outbreak.
“(OES and Public Health) are in direct contact with the facility staff and are monitoring the situation and will provide assistance if requested,” he said. But they are not able to provide any more information on the number of positive cases because the small size of the facility would violate HIPPA guidelines on privacy.
The outbreak comes about a month after a resident at English Oaks Convalescent & Rehabilitation Hospital tested positive for COVID-19.
Bee Editor Brian Clark and staff writers Ken Carlson and Marijke Rowland contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 25, 2020 at 6:07 AM.
