Residents and employees of the Sundale Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care in Morgantown continue to slowly recover from the COVID-19 virus almost a month after the first case was reported, medical director Carl Shrader said Tuesday.
Originally 33 people associated with Sundale tested positive for the novel coronavirus — 21 residents, nine employees and three contract personnel from Odyssey Rehabilitation in Morgantown. Shrader, who is also a WVU Medicine physician, said results from Monday’s re-testing now shows 15 of the original 33 have recovered while 14 still have the virus and four have died. The latest death was an 85-year-old woman who died Saturday. Two Sundale residents with COVID-19 are being treated at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital and are in stable condition.
In the month since the first round of tests, three more residents and three more staff members have become infected with the virus, Shrader said.
Nine staff members have recovered from the virus, while five — including contract workers — are still positive.
Test results on one employee are pending.
Six residents are now negative.
“There really doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason,” said Shrader of the recovery rates, which stand at a combined 52%.
People who tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday will be re-tested on April 27. This includes health care workers who have direct contact with the infected residents, Shrader said.
“We have COVID in the building and we can’t let our guard down,” he said.
Sundale officials said they have not received any directive from officials about Gov. Jim Justice’s executive order to retest every nursing home resident and staff members throughout the state, but will comply.
The people who have been tested for the virus will be retested to ensure up-to-date results, the governor said in his executive order.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reported Tuesday afternoon there are 89 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Monongalia County; 12 in Preston, and 43 in Marion. Overall in the state, there are 929 positive cases and 21,849 negative cases. There have been 26 deaths related to the virus, the latest deaths include a 98-year-old woman from Wayne County and a 53-year-old from Wood County.
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