18 people test positive for coronavirus at Life Care nursing home in Hilo

A dozen residents and six staff have contracted the coronavirus at another Hilo nursing home.

The 252-bed Life Care Center of Hilo reported Thursday evening that there are 11 active resident cases, including three at Hilo Medical Center. One resident has fully recovered from COVID-19, according to a post on the company’s website. In addition, there are three active employee cases and three that are considered recovered.

Life Care, the second-largest skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility in the islands with 201 residents and 215 employees, said it will continue testing staff and residents twice a week until further notice, as well as monitor residents and screen employees daily. The center provides short-term rehabilitation, long-term care and post-operative recovery.

“The daily monitoring of associates helps minimize risk as well as the testing twice per week. All residents are monitored through the day and night for any change in symptoms. This is a high-level overview, but our team is committed to the safety of our residents,” Mark Mann, executive director, said in a statement.

On Sept. 23, the facility was notified that an employee who did not provide direct care had tested positive in the community and by the next day, it reported four workers had contracted COVID-19, including one that had recovered and returned to work and three who are still recovering at home. The first resident tested positive on Sept. 25 and was immediately isolated in a designated COVID-19 unit, the company said. The following day, two more residents were confirmed positive.

“We continue to proactively take on the challenges of this pandemic, and our resolve remains to provide a safe environment and peace of mind for each individual under our stewardship,” Mann said.

The center said it is following federal and state health guidelines for COVID-19 and is getting help from a corporate clinical team as well.

Also in Hilo, the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home has been dealing with the state’s largest coronavirus outbreak with 71 residents and 35 employees infected and 27 fatalities attributed to the outbreak. The nursing home is reporting 42 residents and 33 employees have recovered.

Meanwhile, the Liliha Healthcare Center is scrambling to contain a COVID-19 outbreak that has so far sickened 21 residents and six staff members. Separately, a registered nurse in Arcadia’s Health Care Center and an independent living resident both tested positive for the virus.

At least 23 nursing homes have reported cases among staff or residents in the past 28 days, the DOH said on its website. They include 17 in Honolulu, two on Maui and four on Hawaii island.

As of Oct. 1, the Health Department reported 287 cases and 17 deaths in skilled nursing facilities; 26 cases and three fatalities in community care foster homes; 22 cases and four deaths in adult residential care homes; six cases in developmental disability residential settings; and 66 cases in assisted living facilities for a total of 407 cases and 24 deaths since March. The Health Department has yet to officially count more than a dozen of the latest deaths at the Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home.

Health officials reported for the second day in a row three additional coronavirus deaths on Oahu and 87 new infections statewide — representing 5% of the 1,746 new tests tallied — bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 142 deaths and 12,601 cases.

There are 2,070 active infections statewide and a total of 10,389 patients now considered recovered, or nearly 83% of those infected.

The U.S. death toll has surpassed 208,400.