A San Antonio nursing home hit hard by the new coronavirus reported has reported two more deaths – one Tuesday night and another Wednesday morning, a City spokeswoman said.
The Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center recorded 67 positive cases of COVID-19 among its 84 residents, and eight employees also tested positive. As of Tuesday, the nursing home had reported eight deaths.
The two most recent deaths bring that total to 10. They include an African American woman in her 70s who had been hospitalized and was at the facility for hospice care. The second patient was a Hispanic woman in her 80s.
The spread of coronavirus at Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is the largest localized outbreak of the virus in San Antonio so far. San Antonio is home to 68 nursing homes while 74 more operate outside city limits in Bexar County. Together, the homes house 14,000 residents.
Because nursing homes house older adults who often have health conditions that could make them more susceptible to the new coronavirus, the CDC has specific coronavirus guidelines for those facilities.
Locally, Mayor Ron Nirenberg responded to the outbreak at Southeast by forbidding staff to work in or visit more than one nursing home, starting April 3.
At Franklin Park Senior Living’s TPC Parkway location near the Stone Oak area, one resident tested positive for COVID-19 while eight staff and seven residents had negative test results, according to a City news release Wednesday. The Franklin Park case is travel-related. It was unclear Wednesday afternoon whether additional test results were expected.
The two new Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center deaths will be included in Wednesday evening’s COVID-19 update, according to City spokeswoman Laura Mayes.
