27 Dead From Coronavirus At Ridgewood Long-Term Care Facilities

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Twenty-seven long-term care facility residents have died in the Village of Ridgewood according to the latest numbers from the New Jersey Department of Health.

No staff deaths have been reported at either of the listed long-term care facilities.

In total between Ridgewood Center and Family Caring of Ridgewood, 153 residents and staff have confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Numbers from each of the facilities is listed below:

• Ridgewood Center: 60 COVID-19 confirmed residents, 27 confirmed staff, 12 resident deaths and no staff deaths.
• Family of Caring Ridgewood: 39 COVID-19 confirmed residents, 27 confirmed staff, 15 resident deaths and no staff deaths.

The coronavirus situation at New Jersey nursing homes has been under the microscope this week. In a Thursday news conference, Gov. Phil Murphy acknowledged that the state "can do better" regarding the outbreak at these facilities.

In total, 5,456 residents and 98 staff have died from nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in New Jersey.

Sixty-three Bergen County long-term care facilities have reported outbreaks. In those facilities, 878 residents have died and 2915 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus. An additional 1,347 staff cases have been reported, and 10 staff members have died.

Calls from experts to expand testing in the facilities have been heard, but the price tag is steep.

There are 363 facilities listed as nursing homes in the state, with residents totaling 43,315 and staff at 47,410. To test every resident and staff member would mean 90,725 total tests at an estimated cost of $13,608,750, according to a report from Patch earlier this week.

That number doesn't include assisted living or other long-term care facilities.

In addition to the mounting case numbers, there is mounting pressure on long-term care facilities to provide greater transparency to their processes. Ninety-two of New Jersey's long-term care facilities failed to comply with a mandate to provide new coronavirus testing plans to the New Jersey Department of Health.

The long-term care facilities aren't the only groups facing criticism over the handling of nursing home data.

Senator Joseph Pennacchio is calling for a Senate Collect Committee to investigate the handling of the pandemic by Gov. Murphy's office after reports that the state altered the accounting of virus deaths in senior facilities.