Two dead as another coronavirus cluster surfaces at Wichita long-term care facility
Sedgwick County is attributing two deaths to another coronavirus cluster that has sprung up, this time in a Wichita nursing home.
Fewer than five residents and staff at the New Life Home Plus facility, 1214 N. Charlotte, have tested positive for the virus that causes COVD-19 disease, officials said Friday.
All the residents and staff have since been tested. The county doesn’t release the exact number of cases if it’s under five to protect patient privacy.
Nursing homes outbreaks are particularly serious because the elderly and infirm are at the highest risk of death or severe complications from the coronavirus, which has killed 28 Sedgwick County residents and more than 121,000 nationwide.
“Many of our residents have significant underlying health conditions making them vulnerable and unfortunately we lost two of them,” administrator Arnot Munguya said in a joint news release with the county.
“We work very hard to keep our residents and staff healthy and safe following the CDC and State guidelines,” Munguya said. “We remain focused on providing quality patient care for our residents at this time.”
Fourteen 14 clusters have been identified in Sedgwick County, including outbreaks at five long-term care facilities, five businesses, three religious institutions and one correctional facility. Clusters are responsible for 25 of the 28 coronavirus deaths in the county.
“The Health Department is working with New Life Home Plus to monitor and protect their residents and staff from COVID-19,” Adrienne Byrne, the Sedgwick County Health Department director, said in the release. “We know that this disease is especially dangerous for older adults and we want to ensure their health and safety.”
The other nursing homes that have experienced outbreaks of the virus are Clearwater Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 620 Wood Ave. in Clearwater, Chisholm Place at 1859 N. Webb, The Manor Nursing Home at Park West at 505 N. Maize and Diversicare of Haysville at 215 N. Lamar Ave., Haysville.
On Friday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported that there had been 51 clusters at long-term care facilities in the state. The outbreaks account for 924 cases and 153 deaths, which is about 7% of all cases and a about 58% of all deaths in the state. Clusters have been closed at 23 nursing homes.
As of Friday’s KDHE report, there were a total of 13,538 cases, 264 deaths, 1,128 hospitalizations and 154,321 negative tests statewide.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 3:30 PM.