Fresno veterans home has coronavirus cases. Also more Tulare County nursing home deaths
There are coronavirus cases at the Veterans Home of California, Fresno – making it at least the fifth skilled nursing facility in Fresno County with reported COVID-19.
State data show less than 11 health care workers there with the contagious virus, as of data through Saturday.
A spokesperson for California Department of Veterans Affairs, which runs the long-term care home in Fresno with approximately 385 beds and more than 400 employees, said Monday that the department could not share the exact number of cases at the facility, citing privacy concerns.
There are also additional coronavirus cases and deaths at nursing homes in Tulare County and Fresno County.
Since last week, there are now COVID-19 patient deaths for the first time at Linwood Meadows Care Center in Visalia and Sierra Valley Rehab Center in Porterville.
Tulare County health officials on Monday said there has been one patient death at Linwood, but didn’t have the number of deaths at Sierra Valley Rehab, which was listed by the state as having fewer than 11 COVID-19 patient deaths. The state didn’t report the number because it is fewer than 11 – its threshold for reporting exact numbers.
The state now lists cumulative COVID-19 deaths by facility, which includes Dycora Transitional Health & Living-Fresno in downtown Fresno. Fresno County health officials previously said the county’s eighth and ninth COVID-19 deaths were nursing home residents, but declined to name the nursing homes.
A hotspot in the coronavirus pandemic, Redwood Springs Healthcare Center in Visalia, has had two more coronavirus patient deaths (28 total).
Lindsay Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility in Lindsay has had two more patients die since early last week – five total, Tulare County health officials said.
Between early last week and Monday, here is how nursing home cases have also grown in Tulare County, per county health officials:
▪ Redwood Springs had three more patients test positive (119 total), along with 69 staff members and 20 others (same as before). Of those, 14 more have recovered (55 total).
▪ Lindsay Gardens had seven new patient cases (69 total), along with six more staff (28 total) and one other (13 total). Of those, eight have recovered.
▪ Dinuba Healthcare had one more patient test positive (45 total), along with six more staff (seven total).
▪ Linwood Meadows had three more patients test positive (15 total), along with two more staffers (3 total).
Sierra Valley Rehab – which first reported cases last week – had the biggest increase, 30 more patients with COVID-19 (42 total), according to the latest state tally. County health officials on Monday reported just five total patients there with COVID-19, however. While its number was lower than the state for patient cases, the county reported eight Sierra Valley Rehab employees with coronavirus while the state list still showed none, as of data through Saturday.
The state list only shows cumulative death totals for facilities. The state list of cases is only a snapshot of active cases in the past 24 hours – and currently, only as of data through Saturday.
That’s made it hard to track totals, including in Fresno County, where officials have not released cumulative case totals like their counterparts in Tulare County, except to confirm 16 cases between two Dycora facilities in Fresno at the end of April.
A Dycora spokesperson on Monday afternoon said Dycora - Fresno now has a total of 32 patients and 15 staff that have tested positive for coronavirus, and that Dycora - Manchester in central Fresno has had 12 patients and one staff member with COVID-19. The spokesperson said all Dycora residents at these facilities have been tested for the virus.
The state additionally shows fewer than 11 health care workers with COVID-19 at Twin Oaks Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Tulare. There were previously cases at Dycora - Sanger and The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens.
In the central San Joaquin Valley, seven skilled nursing homes in Fresno County are listed as not reporting data to the state, along with three in Tulare County, three in Madera County and one in Merced County.
The state reported a total of 977 coronavirus patient deaths, and 19 health care worker deaths, in skilled nursing facilities, as of data through Saturday. Across California, there’s been a total of 6,025 patients and 3,684 health care workers in these facilities with COVID-19, making them among the deadliest hotspots in the coronavirus pandemic.
While a CalVet spokesperson declined to share Fresno veteran home totals on Monday, the department shared coronavirus totals across its eight California homes that serve nearly 2,100: Three residents with coronavirus, two COVID-19 deaths and 12 employees who tested positive (with all but four now cleared to return to work or back at work).
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 1:41 PM.
