Half Of Coronavirus Deaths Linked To Somerset Co. Nursing Homes

SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — Twenty-two nursing care facilities in Somerset County have had at least one patient who died of complications from the new coronavirus, and 28 facilities have had more than 2 positive cases of the virus.

Those are some of the numbers revealed Monday when the state Department of Health released information on all nursing facilities in New Jersey who have reported at least one case of the coronavirus.

The listing comes after weeks of requests for the information and repeated warnings from the state to the owners and managers of long-term care facilities about their need to report that information to patients, employees and patients' families, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Monday.

Don't miss local and New Jersey announcements about coronavirus precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.

Long-term care facilities have been a point of concern in Somerset County since the earliest stages of the outbreak, as has been the potential spillover to the senior community at large. Somerset County has more than 331,000 residents of which 15.6 percent are seniors, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

As of Monday afternoon, there have been 28 long-term and assisted living care facilities in Somerset County that have reported at least one case of coronavirus to the state. There are 658 cases of patients or staff at long-term care facilities who have tested positive for the virus, and 83, or just under 13 percent, of those patients have died, according to state figures. (You can see the list at the bottom of the article.)

Overall, there have been 2,488 people in Somerset County who tested positive; 170 of those, or 6.8 percent, have died, according to the state. Nursing home cases account for 26 percent of the people who have tested positive in Somerset County, and 50 percent of the deaths.

There were 88,806 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus across New Jersey as of Monday, and 4,377 of them have died, according to the state health department. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

"Given their congregate nature and resident population served (e.g., older adults often with underlying chronic medical conditions), nursing home populations are at the highest risk of being affected by COVID-19. If infected with SARS-CoV-2, residents at these facilities are also at increased risk of serious illness," said Somerset County Director Namitha Reddy. "We have also found that residents with COVID-19 may not report typical symptoms such as fever or respiratory symptoms; some may not report any symptoms and unrecognized asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections are likely to have contributed to transmission in these settings."

Somerset County Department of Health investigates cases in all facilities and works with the facility to identify cases, outbreaks, implement control measures, monitor and provide guidance on preventing spread of infection within these settings, according to Reddy.

Reddy said the county health department is working with facilities to monitor and prevent sources of introduction of COVID-19 into nursing homes through aggressive efforts toward visitor restrictions and implementing sick leave policies for ill HCP, and working with the facility to actively check every person entering a facility for fever and symptoms of illness.

The county is also working with facilities to identify infections early and implement public health control measures to prevent spread and manage severe illness. Facilities are also advised to ensure adequate supplies of rapid test kits and supplies necessary to adhere to recommended infection prevention and control practices which have been difficult to procure, according to Reddy.

Here are the facilities in Somerset County that have patients positive for the coronavirus, along with deaths (in parentheses) that have happened at those facilities. The list of facilities was provided by the state Department of Health; there may be discrepancies due to a delay in communications between the facilites and the state:

• Willow Creek Rehabilitation and Care
  Center, Franklin: 62 (11)
• Lyons Campus of the VA New Jersey Health Care
  System, Bernards Township: 61 (10)
• Martin and Edith Stein Assisted Living Residence,
  Inc., Somerset: 35 (8)
• Spring Hills Assisted Living Facility Somerset, Franklin: 29 (7)
• Bridgeway Senior Healthcare at Bridgewater, Bridgewater: 51 (6)
• Foothill Acres Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Hillsborough: 27 (5)
• New Jersey Eastern Star Home, Bridgewater: 20 (5)
• The Chelsea at Warren , Warren: 8 (5)
• Green Brook Regional, Green Brook: 83 (3)
• Abingdon Care and Rehab Center in Greenbrook, Middlebrook/Green Brook: 32 (3)
• Fellowship Village, Bernards Township: 31 (3)
• Regency Jewish Heritage Post Acute Rehab and
  Nursing Center, Franklin: 22 (3)
• Mc Auley Hall Health Center, Watchung: 14 (3)
• Matheny Medical and Education Center, Peapack: 29 (2)
• Complete Care at Green Knoll, Bridgewater: 16 (2)
• Parker at Somerset, Somerset: 30 (1)
• The Arbor at Laurel Circle, Bridgewater: 16 (1)
• Fox Trail Senior Living, Green Brook: 9 (1)
• Rehab at River's Edge, Raritan: 7 (1)
• Brandywine Living at Mountain Ridge, Middle Brook 6 (1)
• Sunrise of Bridgewater, Bridgewater: 6 (1)
• Brandywine Living at Middlebrook Crossing, Bridgewater: 6 (1)
• Stonebridge at Montgomery, Montgomery: 21 (0)
• Care One at Somerset Valley AL, Bound Brook: 17 (0)
• Brookdale Hillsborough, Hillsborough: 8 (0)
• Bridgeway Care And Rehabilitation Center At
  Hillsborough, Hillsborough: 7 (0)
• All American Assited Living at Hillsborough, Hillsborough: 3 (0)
• Sunrise of Basking Ridge, Bernards Township: 2 (0)

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.

Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.