6 more nursing home residents died of COVID-19 in Lancaster County: coroner

Nine COVID-19 deaths were recorded here in the past week, raising the total since March to 413, according to the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office report released Thursday.

One was the first resident of Zerbe Retirement Community in Caernarvon Township whose death was attributed to the coronavirus.

Five were residents of Oak Leaf Manor North, a personal-care home in East Hempfield Township whose first COVID-19 death was reported the previous week.

The other three were among the 70 deaths not associated with nursing or personal care homes or retirement communities. To date, such deaths account for just 17% of the pandemic’s toll here.

The six deaths at Oak Leaf Manor North represent 4% of its 135 personal care beds.

In a written statement, Oak Leaf said it specializes in memory and personal care and, “Despite following — and in many cases exceeding — the rigorous safety, security and testing measures encouraged by public health officials” recently had a cluster of cases.

It reported working with professionals from the state'’ Regional Response Help Collaboration Program in the past two weeks, “to conduct extensive testing and contact tracing and ensure our mitigation strategies meet and exceed state and federal guidance.”

And, it said, the home extends its heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of those who have died.

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The death at Zerbe Retirement Community represents less than 1% of its 87 nursing and 28 personal care beds. According to administrator Brian Milley, the facility also has 58 independent living cottages.

In an email, Milley wrote that the home has been diligently following state and federal guidelines since March, and “staff has been doing a tremendous job keeping Covid out of all of our resident care areas.”

Its first cases were confirmed just three weeks ago, he wrote, and since then the Lancaster County Rapid Response Team and two infection control evaluations by the Department of Health “were satisfied with the practices we have in place.”

The home has been doing weekly testing since finding its first positive case and is hoping to get its second round of negative test results back by the beginning of next week “so we can start to relax some of the restrictions we have put into place,” Milley wrote.

For example, he said, it would like to allow outdoor visits with loved ones.

The nine deaths reported by Diamantoni in the past week represent an increase from recent weeks.

He reported two deaths in each of the previous two weeks, and 10 and eight, respectively, in the two weeks before that.

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Tweet:

This is what the #LancasterCounty coroner's log of when #COVID19 deaths occurred here shows now. Tally stands at 413, up from 404 last Thursday. https://t.co/cnmdVXVkHkpic.twitter.com/cN3vLOKA71

— Heather Stauffer (@HStaufferLNP) September 3, 2020

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Crédito: HEATHER STAUFFER | Staff Writer