Over 70 tests still pending
The medical director of the Sundale Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care facility in Morgantown said Wednesday there are 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the facility, including four staff members who are quarantined at their home .
Dr. Carl Shrader, Sundale medical director and WVU Medicine physician, said results on 50 patients and 26 staff members are still pending.
Eleven coronavirus-positive residents are currently being kept in a special unit at Sundale, away from other patients in a low-traffic area of the facility. Shrader said three infected Sundale patients are receiving treatment at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital and two are in Mon Health Medical Center.
“The (11) patients are secured in a unit away from higher traffic areas,” said Shrader, adding staff members treating those patients are in protective gear, provided by the Charleston Health Command.
Members of the West Virginia National Guard were called in by Gov. Jim Justice Monday and Tuesday to help test residents of the facility after a patient, a woman in her 70s, tested positive for the virus on the previous day.
Negative test results have come back for 28 patients and 24 staffers.
On Tuesday Sundale officials said four patients and three staff members tested positive. But on Wednesday, there are 16 total cases of coronavirus among residents. Test results are now pending on 50 patients and 26 staff members.
“We were not able to test three patients,” said Shrader, adding this was because of various things affecting the individuals, such as dementia.
“We weren’t able to get one result because of a labeling issue, but that person will be re-tested,” he said.
Sundale has 91 patients, with an average age of 85. There are 150 full and part-time Sundale employees. There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 in the west wing of the facility, where there are mostly individual rooms.
Besides bringing in an industrial cleaning company to clean areas where infected patients were housed, patients are also being served meals on disposable containers and trays.
Shrader also said he plans to personally reach out to family members of each Sundale patient to answer any questions they may have.
The state breakdown of cases by county are: Berkeley County (2), Harrison County (3), Jefferson County (3), Jackson County (4), Kanawha County (5), Logan County (1), Marion County (1), Marshall County (2), Mercer County (2), Monongalia County (18), Ohio County (2), Preston County (2), Putnam County (2), Raleigh County (1), Tucker County (2), and Wood County (1).
As of 11:59 p.m. Wednesdsay, 1,082 residents have been tested for COVID-19, with 51 positive, 1,031 negative and 19 tests pending (at state lab).
