Seven Skilled Nursing Facility Residents In Cambridge Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus Since October 2

Press release from the City of Cambridge:

October 14, 2020

Since Friday, October 2, seven residents of a Cambridge skilled nursing facility have tested positive for COVID-19. Five of the seven individuals are current residents of the facility; the other two individuals were discharged from the facility prior to testing positive and no longer reside in Cambridge. In addition, one facility employee who does not reside in Cambridge has tested positive for COVID-19.

The five current residents of the facility are symptom-free and recovering. The Cambridge Public Health Department does not have information on the two cases who no longer reside in the city.

The eight cases are considered a cluster. The facility has been working closely with the Cambridge Public Health Department and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to prevent additional infections.

In adherence with state guidance, the facility will continue testing all staff and residents once a week until two weeks have passed with no additional infections. The date of the last positive test was Wednesday, Oct. 7.

State and local health officials believe the coronavirus was introduced into the facility’s isolation unit from residents who had recently been discharged from several area hospitals. The MDPH healthcare acquired infections team has been notified of the cluster and is conducting an investigation regarding the hospital-acquired infections.

All long-term care facility residents who are out of the facility for longer than 24 hours for medical care, including hospital stays, and any newly admitted residents to a long-term care facility must undergo a 14-day quarantine, per state health department guidance. It is possible for residents to develop COVID-19 during this time if they were exposed during their time away from the facility.

This is a complex cluster, and it is likely that both hospital-acquired infection and transmission among residents in the isolation unit contributed to the outbreak. No cases have been reported among the general resident population at the facility.

Prior to October, the last confirmed COVID-19 case among a Cambridge long-term care resident was reported on June 6.

This press release was produced by the City of Cambridge. The views expressed here are the author’s own.