After reporting 21 COVID-19 deaths, NC nursing home has not had new cases in a month

This story was updated Oct. 7 at 4:30 p.m.

A Garner nursing home that had one of the higher COVID-19 outbreaks in the Triangle has not had a new coronavirus case in a month, a spokesperson for the nursing home said.

A state Department of Health and Human Services report showed seven additional deaths at the nursing home between Friday, Sept. 25, and Tuesday, Sept. 29.

But a spokesperson for the Ohio-based Laurel Health Care Company, owner of The Laurels of Forest Glenn, said seven people did not die over just a few days. The spokesperson confirmed 21 residents have died, as seen in the report, but said the last death at the facility occurred Sept. 4.

The Wake County Health Department confirmed there have been no deaths since Sept. 4.

The News & Observer reported those deaths using data from the N.C. DHHS COVID-19 dashboard. No one answered the phone at The Laurels of Forest Glenn on Sept. 29, when the report was released, and no one responded to an email sent to the parent company’s compliance office.

Friday, the company spokesperson emailed The N&O to correct the information. He said there are delays “beyond our control” from when the nursing home reports data to the county health department to when the state adds it to its COVID-19 Dashboard.

The Sept. 29 state report on COVID-19 cases in nursing homes and other congregate care facilities says the Laurels of Forest Glenn had 115 coronavirus cases among 87 residents and 28 staff members.

The last new case was Sept. 3, and the facility remains COVID-19 free, the Laurel Health Care Company spokesperson said.

The Wake County Health Department confirmed that dates of death do not correlate to dates of DHHS reports.

Nursing home COVID-19 deaths statewide have increased by 15 people since last Friday, according to the state report, which is released Tuesdays and Fridays.

The Garner facility’s website says it has 140 beds, while the Medicare website says it has 120 beds.

Older people are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms, and the virus spreads easily in congregate living settings. Of the state’s 3,494 COVID-19 deaths, 1,428 are connected to nursing homes, or about 41%.

In the Triangle, eight nursing homes in Wake County, eight nursing homes in Durham County, and four nursing homes in Orange County have ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks.

As nursing home cases have stabilized, North Carolina announced Monday that nursing home residents can begin seeing visitors inside the facilities starting this week. But the nursing homes must be free of COVID-19 cases for 14 days and be in a county where fewer than 10% of residents test positive for the coronavirus.

The state also reports ongoing outbreaks at county jails. In Tuesday’s report, the Wake County jail has 26 cases and the Orange County jail has four, of which three are staff members.

The Alamance County jail has the largest COVID-19 outbreak among county detention facilities, with 119 cases among detainees and 11 among staff members.

This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 6:26 PM.