VALLEJO, Calif. – At the Windsor Vallejo Care Center, 76 patients and 23 health workers have now tested positive for COVID-19.

Of those 99 cases, one of those patients is 64-year-old Joseph Quirarte of Pacifica.

He’s had both legs amputated because of diabetes. Now he has tested positive for the cornavirus.

His two children, including a son, an army staff sergeant stationed in Germany, are worried and frustrated.

“It’s a helpless feeling. I want to help, but I am on a separate continent,” said Sgt, Joe Quirarte Jr. from his base in Germany.

Daughter Maria Quirarte lives closer to the facility, but like all family members of nursing home patients, is not allowed to visit.

“We’re worried the COVID is in his system and we don’t know how his body is going to react. We are trying to be cautious and make sure he gets his meds on time,” she said.

The virus has hit the facility like an avalanche. On Friday there were 34 cases reported.  Now it has almost tripled.

Solano County Public Health said it is working closely with the facility to manage the outbreak.

Quirarte’s family said his father had two roommates who also tested positive and were moved to another room, for which they are grateful.

“He’s had two amputated legs and a toilet that wasn’t working. He has since been moved from that room,” said Maria.

“You see the news stories about other facilities and just hope it won’t happen to your parent’s facility,” said Joe Jr.

State public health records show Windsor Vallejo was cited for improper infection control practices in March 2019.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave the facility a rating of two stars out of five, base on health inspections and overall quality.

“Crucially, regulators have often given infection control pretty short shrift in terms of prioritizing inspections. And we are paying for it now,” says Michael Dark of the non-profit California. Advocates for Nursing Home Reform

To the Quirartes, the health care staff seems overwhelmed.

“We want to make sure they get the help they need to help our father, and others,” said Maria.

Management of Windsor Vallejo did not respond to our messages.

Almost 100 infected with COVID-19 at Windsor care facility in Vallejo

Nearly 100 individuals have been infected at the Windsor Vallejo Nursing & Rehabilitation Center with COVID-19, Solano County Public Health Administrator Jayleen Richards confirmed to the Times-Herald on Monday.

Richards said 76 residents and 23 health care workers have tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus.

Richards said the Solano County Public Health Department is “working closely” with the facility to manage the cluster outbreak. She said infected patients have been moved to another part of the facility to recover, while infected workers are recovering at home.

County officials began testing residents and health care workers last week after the facility reported nearly a dozen residents had been infected as of April 24. That initial number ballooned to 34 last week, and then doubled again with 76 residents infected with COVID-19 as of Monday.

It wasn’t immediately known if there have been any deaths at the facility due to COVID-19.

Attempts to reach facility officials proved unsuccessful on Monday, as no one answered the facility’s main phone line when the Times-Herald called for a comment. In addition, Josh Sable, general counsel for Windsor Healthcare, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

“I’m extremely concerned about the well being of the patients and staff members,” Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan said by phone when told about the 99 infected.

Sampayan said he’d like to see the non-infected residents be moved to another care facility while the infected patients recover inside Windsor.

The mayor said it might be necessary at some point for the state to step in to help stop the spread of Coronavirus in the facility.

Richards previously told this newspaper that the testing data from Windsor “has been and will be included on the COVID-19 Dashboard produced daily by Solano Public Health.”

The city of Vallejo has the most coronavirus cases in Solano County with 125 as of last Friday.

Eight other Solano County care facilities have reported no COVID-19 infections of residents or staff members, as of May 1, according to the state.

Windsor Vallejo Nursing and Rehabilitation Center reports 34 residents infected with COVID-19

Days after Windsor Vallejo Nursing and Rehabilitation Center reported 18 residents had been infected with COVID-19, that number jumped to 34, according to the California Department of Health.

The data, which is current as of Thursday, also showed that less than 11 healthcare workers at the facility have tested positive with coronavirus.

Recent attempts to reach the facility and Josh Sable, general counsel for Windsor Healthcare, for comment have been unsuccessful.

“We continue to work closely with the Windsor facility around this incident. An outbreak at a Skilled Nursing Facility is a high priority to Solano Public Health and we are responding in such a matter,” said Solano County Public Health Administrator Jayleen Richards on Friday.

Officials previous told the Times-Herald that they learned about the infections on April 24. At that time, 12 residents had tested positive. That’s when county health began testing of residents and health care workers at the facility.

They also said earlier in the week that four health care workers were infected.

Questions remain on how so many were infected while the eight other facilities in Solano County have reported zero COVID-19 related infections for their residents and health care workers.

The city of Vallejo continues to lead the county in the number of COVID-19 infections with 125, the Solano County Public Health reported on Friday.

Fairfield has 60, while the city of Vacaville has reported 35 coronavirus cases, the same data shows.