Two hospitalized in ICU, some moved to other nursing facilities, most sheltering in place
KRON4 Bay Area News, by Maureen Kelly, May 5, 2020
VALLEJO, Calif. (KRON) – Close to a hundred people linked to one skilled nursing facility in Vallejo have contracted coronavirus.
Two are now confirmed dead by Solano County Health Officials.
“I want him moved out of there, I want someone to come in there and shut this down,” Annette Bennett Lewis said.
Annette Bennett Lewis is talking about her 31-year-old nephew, a stroke victim who’s been living at the Windsor Vallejo Care Facility for about a year and is one of the 75 patients there that have tested positive for COVID-19.
She’s unable to visit in person but saw him through a window at the skilled nursing facility.
“He is now lethargic, he’s not eating very much, he’s not drinking very much, he says he doesn’t have a fever because there’s so many patients in there, they’re not able to come in there and give them much care. What we need is like Gavin Newsom to come up and jump up this will happen no more and take over this place put Windsor out of business or – President Trump help please,” Lewis said.
Bennett isn’t the only one concerned about a loved one there.
Danny Goza is worried about his mother Maria, an 86-year-old alzheimer’s patient.
Although she tested negative for coronavirus, 24 workers tested positive.
Goza and his niece fear that’s left the care center understaffed and the remaining workers overwhelmed.
“She was sitting in a fecal diaper, she had an accident before breakfast, they didn’t change her until her lunch tray came in and we couldn’t find her for three days,” Goza said.
In a statement, a representative from the Windsor Vallejo Care Center says their mission is to be hyper vigilant and take every recommended safety measure to try and minimize the continued spread of the virus to the residents and staff.
Windsor Vallejo Care Center (“Windsor”) has experienced an increase in the number of staff and residents suffering from COVID-19 despite the facility’s best efforts to prevent further infection.
Please be assured that the facility is adhering to all recommendations of federal and state agencies, including The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (“CMS”), and the California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”). Our mission is to be hypervigilant in taking every recommended safety measure to minimize the continued spread of the virus to our residents and staff.
For some time now we have been screening employees at the start of each shift for symptoms of COVID-19 infection, including daily temperature checks and completion of a CDC compliant screening questionnaire. Employees who show signs of illness are asked to leave immediately and isolate at home.
Furthermore, residents and staff have been tested. Visits to our facility have been restricted in compliance with state and federal guidelines. We have increased sanitation of frequently-touched surfaces. We have ample supplies of personal protective equipment. Staff are constantly being in-serviced on best practices in regard to infection control. We are proud of our staff and their dedication to the residents.
We respectfully request that all further inquiries be directed to the local Department of Public Health.
The health officer of Solano County says they have staff on the ground helping with infection control.
Two infected patients have been hospitalized and are in ICU.
They were able to move a handful of COVID positive residents to another nursing facility able to handle infected patients to ease the strain.
He says the rest need to shelter in place because the risk of moving even those who have tested negative is too great.
“They may appear to be negative today, but that won’t mean they won’t emerge disease within their incubation period. So moving them just transports the risk of COVID to other facilities as well,” Dr. Bela Matyas said.
