Coronavirus Outbreak Reported In Yucaipa Nursing Facility

YUCAIPA, CA — Authorities are responding to a new coronavirus outbreak inside a nursing facility in Yucaipa, where 12 elderly residents tested positive this week and one woman died, San Bernardino County health officials said Saturday.

The patient who died was an 89-year-old woman with underlying health issues, and died from COVID-19 on Thursday. At the same facility, 12 other residents tested positive Saturday.

A resident at a second nursing facility in Mentone is showing symptoms of COVID-19, authorities said. Neither facility has been publicly named.

"County Public Health professionals are working closely with both facilities to expedite the immediate testing of all residents and employees of both facilities," San Bernardino County health officials said in a news release.

"This is the first instance we have had in our county of a concentrated COVID-19 outbreak," Acting County Health Officer Dr. Erin Gustafson said in a statement. "The county will do everything within its ability and authority to minimize the tragedy this pandemic has the potential to create in our communities."

Nursing homes have seen many of the country's most severe outbreaks of COVID-19, which affects the elderly most severely. A nursing home in Kirkland, Wash. was initially the American epicenter of the coronavirus, having reported at least 37 deaths associated with COVID-19.

San Bernardino County has confirmed 76 COVID-19 cases, including three deaths, according to the county's most recent data. Nearby Riverside County had confirmed 195 cases, including eight deaths, as of Saturday.

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