Triangle COVID-19 outbreaks rise as NC announces universal nursing home tests

Updated July 2 at 5:45 p.m. See story for details.

On the day North Carolina officials announced universal coronavirus testing at all nursing homes, data shows new outbreaks continue to spread at long-term care facilities.

More than 600 nursing home residents have died, according to data released Tuesday from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

The toll also has spread to nursing home staff. More than 1,300 nursing home workers have tested positive for the coronavirus, and four have died, according to the data.

The department releases new information on cases and deaths related to congregate care settings, such as nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Outbreaks in two Triangle elder-care communities were reported for the first time on Tuesday.

One staff and one resident tested positive at Waltonwood Cary Parkway, a retirement community, and two staff tested positive at The Cedars of Chapel Hill, a nursing home.

The state’s data also show the Laurels at Forest Glenn in Garner reported 16 residents with the virus and one staff member’s death.

But Ryan Zimmerman, a spokesman for Laurel Health Care Company, which runs the nursing home, said Wednesday that the state’s information about a worker’s death is inaccurate. He said the company is looking into the discrepancy.

On July 2, state health officials confirmed the information about the worker’s death was in error.

Pandemic effect in nursing homes

The pandemic’s effects have been harshest in nursing homes, where there’s less expertise in infection control than in other healthcare settings and often-frail residents live in close quarters. The personal protective equipment, or PPE, necessary to keep staff from catching the virus or passing it on to a resident has been in short supply for months. So has testing, which could help identify people who have the virus but are not showing any symptoms.

Tuesday, Dr. Mandy Cohen, the DHHS secretary, announced that all nursing home residents and employees will be tested across the state, even if there isn’t an outbreak at a facility.

Testing will begin in July and last through August, Cohen said.

Although nursing home residents account for less than 1% of the state’s population, they make up about half of the 1,343 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Twenty-nine percent of nursing homes have had an outbreak, which the state defines as two or more laboratory-confirmed cases among staff and residents.

Much of the care nursing home workers provide to residents, such as bathing and feeding, requires close contact. Chronic health conditions and advanced age put nursing home residents at high risk of severe complications should they get infected.

Other residential-care settings, such as assisted-living communities, have had deadly outbreaks, but the virus has not spread as widely there as in nursing homes.

According to Tuesday’s data, one large outbreak in the Triangle — at Durham Nursing and Rehabilitation Center — was declared over, meaning that there were no new cases in the past 28 days. Earlier this spring, 111 people had earlier tested positive, including 32 staff. Seventeen residents died.

Outbreaks in 22 Triangle nursing homes and assisted-living facilities continue.

Wake County outbreaks

The case count at the Laurels at Forest Glenn rose steeply since Friday, when the state last disclosed data on outbreaks in congregate living settings. Six resident cases were reported at the time.

▪ At Wellington Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Knightdale, 41 staff and 40 residents have tested positive, and 14 residents have died.

▪ At Sunnybrook Rehabilitation Center in Raleigh, 14 staff and 34 residents have tested positive, and six residents have died.

▪ At UNC Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center of Apex, 14 staff and 26 residents have tested positive, and four residents have died.

▪ At Brookdale Wake Forest, one staff and 12 residents have tested positive, and three residents have died.

▪ At Hillside Nursing Center of Wake Forest, two workers and 11 residents have tested positive.

▪ At Pruitthealth-Raleigh, three staff have tested positive.

▪ At Tower Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Raleigh, two staff have tested positive.

▪ At UNC Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center of Raleigh, three staff and two residents have tested positive.

▪ At Windsor Point Continuing Care Community in Fuquay-Varina, 13 residents have tested positive.

▪ At Brookridge Assisted Living in Apex, two staff and nine residents have tested positive.

▪ At Heartfields at Cary, two residents have tested positive.

Durham County outbreaks

▪ At Treyburn Rehabilitation Center, 26 staff and 74 residents have tested positive, and 22 residents have died.

▪ At Carver Living Center, 28 staff and 80 residents have tested positive, and 10 residents have died.

▪ At Pettigrew Rehabilitation Center, one staff and one resident have tested positive.

▪ At Brookdale Durham, three residents have tested positive.

▪ At Camellia Gardens, two staff have tested positive.

Orange County outbreaks

▪ At PruittHealth-Carolina Point in Durham, 25 staff and 89 residents have tested positive, and 20 residents have died.

▪ At Signature HealthCARE in Chapel Hill, 21 staff and 63 residents have tested positive, and 20 residents have died.

▪ At Parkview Health and Rehabilitation Center in Chapel Hill, three staff and two residents have tested positive.

This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 8:00 AM.