Five more nursing homes, in Fresno and Tulare counties, report coronavirus cases
Coronavirus has been reported in five more nursing homes in California’s central San Joaquin Valley.
In Fresno County, coronavirus was reported at The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens, Dycora Transitional Health & Living - Fresno (in downtown Fresno), and Dycora Transitional Health & Living - Manchester (near Shields Avenue and First Street).
In Tulare County, coronavirus was reported at Twin Oaks Rehabilitation & Nursing Center and Linwood Meadows Care Center – with 10 Linwood residents testing positive.
Previously, Redwood Springs Healthcare Center in Visalia was among the first nursing facilities in the state to announce a coronavirus outbreak, reported on April 1.
The Dycora facility in downtown Fresno (previously named Golden Living, located next to Community Regional Medical Center) reported Monday that it has two patients with COVID-19. They were reported in stable condition and their families were notified.
A Dycora administrator there confirmed a report Monday night of additional COVID-19 cases at its sister facility near the Manchester Center, but did not say how many cases. Requests for information from Dycora - Manchester were not returned Monday night.
The Terraces reported one resident and one staff member had COVID-19. The resident has recovered, and the staff member has not worked at the Village Health Care Center since April 4, a spokesman said. That staff member is now at home in self-quarantine.
In a list of skilled nursing facilities, California Department of Public Health reported The Terraces and Twin Oaks both have fewer than 11 health care workers with COVID-19
Twin Oaks did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Fresno County now has more than 450 coronavirus cases, with seven deaths, and Tulare County has more than 530 cases, with 32 deaths.
On Saturday, before Dycora’s announcement, a spokesperson with the Fresno County Department of Public Health issued a statement: “Surveillance and symptomatic testing in Skilled Nursing Facility populations is ongoing due to the higher risks in these patients. The Fresno County Department of Public Health is actively engaged with state and local agencies to ensure safety protocols are being followed, and our team is actively investigating any cases of COVID-19 in congregate living situations. We cannot comment on specific facilities at this time.”
Four Tulare County nursing homes with COVID-19
Linwood Meadows and the Tulare County Public Health Department both reported 10 residents at the Visalia facility with COVID-19 on Monday morning.
In a statement, Tulare County Public Health Director Karen Elliott said Tulare County is working with the facility and state to ensure the facility is following proper guidelines regarding personal protective equipment and has “appropriate PPE and collection kits to expand testing for employees and other residents who are identified for testing needs.”
Linwood Meadows has approximately 77 residents and 110 staff.
Two other nursing homes in Tulare County, Redwood Springs and Lindsay Gardens, previously reported COVID-19 at their facilities.
Redwoods Springs – which, like Linwood Meadows, is owned by the Plum Corporation – now has 114 residents with COVID-19, in addition to 60 staff members and eight related individuals (such as family who came to visit, or family of staff), health officials said.
Lindsay Gardens had 38 residents test positive for COVID-19, along with 14 staff and six others, as of Monday, health officials said.
The state list, last updated Friday, still showed fewer cases at those facilities, and no cases at Linwood. The state list also includes the fourth Tulare County facility, Twin Oaks.
More about Fresno, Visalia facilities
A spokesman for Linwood Meadows said the coronavirus outbreak there was discovered after a patient had a high fever while in transit to an area hospital Saturday night for an unrelated matter, and then tested positive for COVID-19 early Sunday.
The other nine COVID-19 patients at Linwood were tested at the facility and at the direction of county health officials.
“None of the patients exhibited any symptoms, but are now in isolation,” Linwood Meadows said in a news release. The facility said it’s also isolating and testing one additional patient who is not experiencing symptoms “out of caution.”
The Terraces and Dycora facility in downtown Fresno also provided more information.
Spokespeople for those facilities said a variety of measures are being utilized to protect residents and staff, including restricting all non-essential visitors from entering, screening for temperature and symptoms, closing communal dining, canceling some activities, increasing cleanings, and using personal protective equipment.
Dycora Transitional Health & Living - Fresno said its downtown facility was coordinating with local and state health officials to test all of its patients for COVID-19.
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 1:50 PM.
