One of the first major reports of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, in the United States centered around Life Care Center of Kirkland, a long-term care and nursing facility in Washington State. An April 2 Washington Post report said the facility was tied to 40 COVID-19-related deaths, and 129 residents, staff and visitors were infected with the virus.
Now, Chatham County has its own senior care facility reporting an outbreak. After two early reports citing six positive COVID-19 tests from the Laurels of Chatham skilled nursing facility late last week, the Chatham County Public Health Department dropped big news Sunday morning: a total of 57 individuals who either work at or live in the facility have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the county said in a press release.
After UNC Health, the county health department and the facility conducted universal tests on Friday, the numbers came back, and county Public Health Director Layton Long indicated it was no surprise.
“We anticipated that universal testing at the facility would reveal more positive cases, and we remain concerned for the staff, residents and their families affected by this outbreak,” Long said. “While COVID-19 is highly infectious, especially in congregate living facilities, we remain focused on limiting the spread of the virus. We will continue to work closely with The Laurels of Chatham to do everything possible to contain this outbreak.”
The CDC says “older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions like heart and lung disease or diabetes” are more likely to develop “more serious complications” from COVID-19, and North Carolina’s reported numbers reflect that. As of April 12, 52 percent of the COVID-19 laboratory-confirmed cases in North Carolina were in individuals 50 years old and older, with 92 percent of the state’s virus-related deaths from that same age group — per the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, 28 “nursing homes,” a designation including “skilled nursing facilities,” in the state have been the site of “ongoing outbreaks” — a number which now includes The Laurels of Chatham, located off U.S. Hwy. 64 Business on Chatham Business Drive.
The state has not released data on the ages of individuals tested, so it’s not known how many individuals aged 50 and over who received tests have been confirmed to contract COVID-19.
Since Chatham has a high rate of seniors in its population — those 65-and-older made up 24 percent as of 2017, compared to 22 percent of those ages 0 to 19 — Long and others say seniors and senior care facilities are worth serious concern.
“One of the things that we’ve seen out west, with (COVID-19) running through a nursing home like that, it can spread very rapidly and have pretty dramatic impacts,” Long said in a March interview with the News + Record. “Age will be a big concern moving forward and (part of) protecting those populations, again, to reiterate, is our ability not to protect ourselves, which is important, but to protect others.”
Dennis Streets, director of the Chatham County Council on Aging, told the News + Record earlier this month that while a relatively small percent of Chatham’s seniors are in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, between 4,000 and 5,000 live in “continuing care retirement communities, again, often in close quarters in terms of where they eat and so on.”
“In terms of their medical vulnerabilities, the physical isolation, the shelter in place, plus the social distancing that we’re have to do in this situation, I think just compounds the problem,” Streets said. “A lot of them do have conditions, chronic conditions, often more than one that might be respiratory in nature, which is one of the big factors with this disease as well as other factors like heart disease.”
But COVID-19 cases made it into Laurels of Chatham anyway. In an April 7 press release first confirming the virus’ presence in the facility, Laurel Health Care Company Regional Director of Operations Rob Peck said the facility has been “implementing and acting on guidance from external agencies” like the CDC since February 28 and restricted visitors and canceled all group activities starting on March 11.
“As the safety and well-being of our residents, employees, visitors, and surrounding community is our top priority, we are doing everything we can to limit the spread of the virus,” Peck said. “Our leadership team has maintained close communication with local and state health officials to ensure we are following recommended preventative steps, and we modify our actions based on the guidance we are given.”
That guidance was recently expanded within North Carolina. On April 10, Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order increasing required “risk mitigation” procedures at skilled nursing facilities per recommendations from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. Those “mandatory requirements,” the order stated, include screening all staff at the beginning of their shifts for fever and respiratory symptoms, including taking their temperature, cancellation of all communal dining and group activities and monitoring all residents “at least daily” for potential COVID-19 symptoms.
The stipulations went into effect at 5 p.m. Friday. In a press release announcing the order — which also included further social distancing measures in retail stores and changes to unemployment benefits — Cooper said the changes would increase protections for both workers and residents.
“North Carolina continues to take strong action to slow the spread of COVID-19, and today’s Order will help make stores safer, protect those living and working in nursing homes, and get more unemployment benefits out quicker,” Cooper said. “Our state is resilient, and we will get through this crisis together if we all do our part.”
The county health department said it will keep working with The Laurels of Chatham to collect samples and help facility staff with “best practices” to “limit the spread of the virus.” Testing widely in the county isn’t an option at this point, Long said, but the department was able to collect samples for everyone thanks to UNC Health.
“The Chatham County Public Health Department has had to prioritize testing to close contacts and those who showed symptoms due to a limited supply of tests available to us” Long said. “We are grateful to UNC Health for making universal testing at this facility possible. These partnerships are critical as we respond to an unprecedented pandemic.”
Additionally, he said, the department is continuing to provide guidance to “members of the Chatham County community as well as facilities like long-term care centers, businesses and child care centers where people may be in closer contact out of necessity.”
Reporter Zachary Horner can be reached at zhorner@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @ZachHornerCNR.