Florida’s governor says a Fort Lauderdale senior living facility allowed workers who were infected with the coronavirus to enter its space and spread the disease, which caused the deaths of three residents.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced over the weekend that a third person who lived at Atria Willow Wood had died from COVID-19.
The governor did not reveal details about the fatality’s identity or age.
Last week, two other residents of the home, 77-year-old Richard Curren and an unidentified 93-year-old man, also died of coronavirus infection.
Richard Curren, 77, a retired travel agent and magician, died in Fort Lauderdale last week after he was infected with coronavirus
Curren and his wife retired to South Florida after relocating there from their hometown of Chicago
Curren is one of three residents of the Atria Willow Wood senior living facility who died after contracting coronavirus last week
DeSantis blamed the facility for the three deaths.
‘The facility did not follow any of the regulations,’ the governor told WPLG-TV.
‘The construction staff, the food service, the regular staff; they were coming in when they were sick and they were allowed to enter these facilities.’
The three fatalities are among seven residents of the facility who were hospitalized and have also tested positive for the virus while results are pending for five others, according to ProPublica.
‘As soon as the Department of Health office in Broward County notified us of a confirmed case in our community, we immediately escalated our safety and infection control protocols and expanded our extensive emergency-scenarios planning,’ Mike Gentry, the facility’s senior vice president of care, said.
‘Since March 16th, the Department of Health has been on site several times to review our plans and has been supportive of our response and protocols.’
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (above) criticized the facility, saying it was allowing sick workers to enter the premises and spread the virus to others
In total, 12 residents have been hospitalized – seven of whom were confirmed cases of coronavirus and five others whose tests are pending
Curren was a retired travel agent and magician who moved to South Florida with his wife from their hometown of Chicago.
He had a history of respiratory problems, so relatives were not overly concerned when he wasn’t feeling well since that was common.
But when it became obvious that he was feeling weak and had trouble breathing, he was rushed to the emergency room.
Last Monday morning, he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Authorities in Florida said they are investigating at least 18 other senior living facilities for possible violations of safety rules meant to stop the spread of coronavirus.
So far, 14 people have died in Florida after contracting coronavirus.
Nationwide, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has surpassed 41,700.
There have been a reported 576 deaths from the pathogen in the United States, according to officials.
Burgeoning coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes in Washington, Illinois, New Jersey and elsewhere are laying bare the industry´s long-running problems, including a struggle to control infections and a staffing crisis that relies on poorly paid aides who can’t afford to stay home sick.
That came into clear focus at the deadliest single spot in the nation’s coronavirus crisis, the Life Care Center in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, where federal investigators believe a contributing factor in 35 deaths so far was low-pay workers who came to work with the illness and potentially even spread it to other nearby facilities where they took shifts.
Beyond that outbreak, at least 15 more have died and dozens have been infected at long-term care facilities across the nation, with major outbreaks of 46 infected in the Chicago suburb of Willowbrook, four deaths in at least two facilities in New Jersey, 13 infected in Little Rock, Arkansas, and 11 infected in Troy, Ohio, with 30 more showing symptoms.
‘Nursing homes would always have been ground zero, but given we already have huge staffing shortages, this will be magnified,’ said David Grabowski, a Harvard Medical School professor who has studied staffing problems at homes.
‘It could be worse for today´s nursing homes than ever.’
Most troubling, he said, is that 75 percent of the nation´s nursing homes don’t meet federal suggested minimum levels for staffing and many workers are inexperienced.
Four out of five nursing home employees are hourly workers, and given the low wages often leave for retail and restaurant jobs just as they become familiar with proper care procedures.
And staffing problems at the nation’s 15,000 long-term care facilities could only be exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis, experts said, because lockdowns and school closures have left many such workers with no choice but to stay home and take care of their children.
‘We have the most vulnerable people in a situation where … nursing homes don’t do what they have to do because they are understaffed, not sufficiently trained and there is high turnover,’ said Steven Levin, a Chicago lawyer who has sued nursing homes over their practices.
‘I am extremely frightened.’