A third staff member at a senior care facility in Juneau has tested positive for COVID-19.
According to a letter Wildflower Court Director of Nursing Emily Merli sent to community members, the person had limited contact with residents and other staff members – so just one other person is being required to quarantine.
The nonprofit, 57-bed facility is divided into four homes, the person who tested positive primarily worked in Huckleberry Home. That home is under quarantine until Nov. 11 according to Merli’s letter.
The facility hasn’t allowed visitors since March. Wildflower Court administrator Ruth Johnson said Saturday that both staff members who have tested positive in recent weeks contracted the virus outside of the facility.
“I don’t know that the staff know exactly where they’ve picked it up, which is what’s scary,” she said.
Because Wildflower Court residents are generally older and at times, have long-term illnesses – they’re at a much higher risk of complications from contracting COVID-19 than other people. They’re among the most vulnerable residents in Juneau.
Johnson said she wishes Juneau residents would be safer. In recent weeks, Juneau’s case counts have accelerated along with many other communities in the state. According to city data, there are 108 residents who have active cases of COVID-19.
There have been multiple outbreaks fueling the increase, including one in the city’s homeless population and among people who offer social services to them; at least 86 people have tested positive, though most have recovered. Another cluster of new infections stems from the Mendenhall Auto Center where at least 14 people recently contracted the virus.
Most of the other new cases are from family and social gatherings according to Juneau’s Emergency Operations Center.
“There’s a direct correlation between nursing home outbreaks and the community,” Johnson said. “The harder it is for the community to keep the virus in check, the harder it is for me to keep it out of the building.”
Johnson said the state has been doing all of their testing, and when their first staff member tested positive – Bartlett rapid-tested everyone.
According to Merli’s letter, they took the nasal swabs of most of the residents except three who refused. Most of them returned negative by Friday morning. Any residents who refuse a test have to quarantine for 14 days.
“Fortunately those who have refused are fairly reclusive individuals,” Johnson wrote in an email.
They also swabbed Salmonberry Home residents on Wednesday and all of those test results came back negative. Staff and residents are tested weekly and that will continue for two weeks until they have no new positive cases among staff or residents, according to Merli’s letter.
The next facility testing day is Monday Nov. 2.
This story has been updated with information about the results of the tests of Salmonberry Home residents and to correct which entity does most of Wildflower Court’s COVID-19 testing, it is the state. Bartlett has done rapid-testing for the facility in the past.
