About half of the deaths from COVID-19 in Pennsylvania continue to be residents in nursing homes and personal care homes.

From Friday to Sunday, 19 residents of nursing homes in Carbon, Monroe, Lehigh, Luzerne and Northampton counties died, according to statistics provided by the state Department of Health. Schuylkill County added its first case of COVID-19 over the weekend. A resident at Hometown Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center has contracted the virus, according to a post on its Facebook page.

In all, 114 residents were added to the confirmed cases by Sunday afternoon.

“Wherever we are seeing community spread, then we expect to see these types of challenges in long-term care living facilities,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, director of the state Department of Health, during a news briefing this week.

She said that although the residents do not have visitors coming in and out, health care workers, cleaning staff and food care workers are still coming in and out of the facilities.

“That type of community spread can be introduced in a long-term care living facility and then it could spread there,” she said. “It’s a very vulnerable population both in nursing homes and in personal care homes. We’re taking every precaution that we possibly can to protect them.”

Some cases

Weatherwood Nursing Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Weatherly, now operated by Guardian Elder Care, has 27 residents who are confirmed to have COVID-19. They are been moved to a special section of the home away from the other residents.

“The site is adhering to approved infection prevention and control standards, as well as hygiene protocols, disinfection procedures and the use of proper personal protective equipment for all caregivers. Adequate supplies are in a location where caregivers have access,” Guardian Healthcare said. “Our dedicated caregivers continue to pour their hearts and souls into caring for our patients and residents during this unprecedented time.”

Cedarbrook Allentown and Cedarbrook Fountain Hill are both county-run facilities. Early last week, Lehigh County reported that there were no deaths due to COVID-19 at either facility, but there were cases of illness. The Allentown site had seven residents confirmed to have the virus and seven staff. Fountain Hill had five residents ill, and five staff.

Schuylkill County no longer has a county-run nursing homes. Rest Haven in Schuylkill County is now Rosewood Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Calls to Rosewood were not returned.

Alicia Shutack-Silliman, the administrator at Hometown Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Tamaqua, said they put into action aggressive prevention methods to protect the residents and followed the guidelines.

“Unfortunately, we have one resident test positive for COVID-19, and we have taken immediate action,” she said. “We are following all Centers for Disease Control and Department of Health protocols on an ongoing basis.”

In Monroe County, Pleasant Valley Nursing Home has had seven deaths due to the virus, according to the administration. Currently, 21 residents are on the floor for COVID-19 patients and six more are in the hospital. Gracedale in Northampton County had two deaths as of April 13.

Isolation

Jennifer Stewart-King, the administrator at Gracedale, said the 10th floor in the tower section of the nursing home has been converted into an isolation unit. It is the last floor in the building and has a dedicated elevator to the tower floors.

All of the residents who were living on that floor and did not have COVID-19 were moved to other floors in the nursing home, she said. As of Monday, there were 24 residents with the virus and 18 employees. The nursing home has 600 residents.

King said the isolation unit can accommodate 50 residents, if needed. They have the floor divided into quads of 12 or 13 beds, and dedicated nursing staff are assigned to that floor. Some of the dedicated staff are people who originally worked on the floor and others are staff from other floors that volunteered to move to the isolation unit.

“It’s a nerve-wracking time,” she said. “My hats are off to them.”

King said the staff in the isolation wing are suited up with masks, gloves, face shields, respirators and gowns, just like front-line workers in the hospitals. Staying stocked with supplies is a daily battle, and she scours the Internet for what they needed. Recently, she placed an order for 1,000 masks.

“I’m constantly trying to find them,” she said about masks.

Members of the community have been making and donating fabric face masks, including a swimwear company in Nazareth that made several masks for them.

“We are very blessed,” she said.