KANSAS CITY(AP) — Health officials are monitoring a nursing facility in Kansas City that has reported three deaths and more than 140 cases of COVID-19 among patients and staff.
Ninety-eight residents and 44 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Garden Valley Healthcare Center, the Kansas City Health Center said Wednesday. The 156-bed skilled nursing facility offers rehabilitation and care for memory problems, Alzheimer’s and other long term care.
State health officials have been requiring regular testing and infection control measures since the outbreak began about Sept. 15, department spokeswoman Michelle Pekarsky said.
Garden Valley has had COVID-19 protocols in place since March, including restricted visits and regular screening of staff, said Fred Stratmann, a spokesman for Garden Valley’s parent company, CommuniCare.
The facility also has an isolation wing for patients who test positive and observation units for those awaiting test results.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas increased by 1488 to a total of 74,456, the state health department reported Wednesday afternoon.
Statewide, Missouri reported 1,854 more confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 162,723. The state has reported 2,657 deaths, up 16 from Wednesday.
Prisons in central Missouri are also reporting increases in confirmed cases, with 115 inmates and 42 staff at the Jefferson City Correctional Center as of Wednesday, which is an increase from a total of 51 cases since Oct. 13.
The growth comes after the state expanded testing after finding more evidence of the coronavirus in wastewater from the prisons in Jefferson City, said Karen Pojmann, a spokeswoman for the state corrections department.
The Algoa Correctional Center reported 86 inmates and 24 staff had tested positive as of Wednesday, with another 13 inmates and 11 staff having recovered, according to Missouri Department of Corrections data.
The Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center reported 109 active cases among inmates and 11 staff cases after testing Oct. 13-15, Pojmann said.
Two corrections department staff members have died after testing positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks, but Pojmann declined to release any information about them.