Update: Turlock care facility reports 5 deaths, 94 positive coronavirus cases
Five people are dead and another 94 have tested positive as the coronavirus outbreak at a Turlock care facility continues to escalate.
Another 132 residents and employees at the Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center are awaiting test results, the company reported late Tuesday afternoon.
Ten people have now died from COVID-19 in Stanislaus County. Another 324 have tested positive in figures released Tuesday.
The center already had announced two deaths in recent days. Of the 94 who tested positive, 66 are residents and 28 are employees.
As in the previous two cases, the additional three people whose deaths were announced were adults with “underlying medical conditions,” the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency said in a news release. Two were female and one male. Privacy law bars release of other details.
“On behalf of the entire team at Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, we join these families in mourning the loss of their loved ones,” an online update said.
Said Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak in a statement posted on Facebook: “We are going to continue to look at this and make sure we learn from this. ... This shouldn’t happen.”
Precautions in Turlock
The center said it has taken several steps during the emergency, including a separate wing for residents who tested positive and those who have tested negative.. Employees are screened for symptoms as they enter their workplace and get protective gear “as appropriate for their respective duties.”
Stanislaus County’s public health agency continues to monitor the outbreak. A top county executive said Tuesday the county has heard from families concerned about their loved ones quarantined in the facility.
Royjindar Singh, spokesman for the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services, said he didn’t know of any additional options for protecting the residents other than letting the nursing home care for patients.
“They are constantly in contact with us and the state,” Singh said. “That is a large enough facility that they are able to quarantine and isolate.”
He said the nursing home has done a lot to isolate residents who tested positive and keep them separate from those who are not infected.
What if the situation worsens? “I don’t know what options they would have,” Singh said. “From what I have been told we are not at that point yet. They have put measures in place.”
Two people urged the Turlock City Council to thoroughly investigate the facility’s outbreak during its regular meeting Tuesday.
“I urge you all to give this special attention and ensure that our community gets its proper representation,” one public commentator said in the teleconferenced meeting. “It is completely unfair to the public [and] to our vulnerable population that they are left behind and not addressing their issues. It’s also unfair that there has been little transparency when it comes to this specific outbreak in the city. People are fearful.”
Mayor Bublak assured the callers that the state, county and city are looking into it and said she plans to give the city daily updates on the Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
“We are very concerned with this situation and are working diligently with the state and county officials to make sure everything that can be done, is done,” Bublak said later in a text message. “If I can find one more way to protect our citizens and potentially our county residents, I’ll do it.”
County Supervisor Vito Chiesa, whose district includes Turlock, said the nursing home is getting support from other entities. He said Emanuel Medical Center provided for the testing of nursing home residents and staff members.
County agencies “are helping them out,” Chiesa said. “If they are short of staffing, they are getting staffing. We are in a supportive role.”
Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation is owned by Covenant Care, a for-profit company based in Aliso Viejo. The corporation also owns Vintage Faire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Modesto. The company is not related to the nonprofit Covenant Village in Turlock.
Stanislaus had gone several weeks into the pandemic without a fatality. The first was announced April 10, the second a day later, and the third and fourth on April 14. The toll rose to five on April 22 and seven Monday.
The county had 324 residents testing positive for the virus as of Tuesday afternoon, and 4,798 negative.
Advice repeated
The deaths came as the county was starting to ease some of the social-distancing rules aimed at controlling the virus. This includes many parks and drive-in worship services.
Officials reminded residents to wash their hands and frequently touched surfaces and to keep at least 6 feet from people not in their households. They should travel only to get essential supplies or to work in jobs exempt from the state’s stay-home order.
Bee staff writer Kristin Lam contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 5:56 PM.
