​47 Positive COVID-19 Cases At Knightdale Long-Term Care Facility

Press release from the Wake County Government:

4/12/2020 10:10 PM

Wake County has identified 43 additional people at Wellington Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Knightdale who have tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number of positive cases at the facility to 47.

Of those 43 new cases,18 are patients who the facility says are currently asymptomatic and 25 are staff members. Results are still pending on 21 tests.

On April 9, four people at the facility—two nurses and two patients—tested positive for the virus. This was the county’s first outbreak of COVID-19 at a long-term care facility.

“We’re working closely with the operators of the facility and advising them on the best ways to prevent the virus from spreading further,” said Wake County EMS/Medical Director Dr. Jose Cabanas. “They’re following our guidance and isolating the positive patients to a single wing of the building.”

At this time, the first two patients who tested positive are the only ones in the hospital receiving treatment.

The county has provided the following guidance to the facility operator, regarding staffing:

• If employees experience symptoms of the virus, they should stay home for seven days. Once they are fever free for three consecutive days after that, they can return to work.
• If staff test negative for COVID-19 and have no symptoms, they can return to work.
• If employees test positive and have no symptoms, they can return to work, but they can only support the wing where the positive patients are located and must wear the appropriate personal protective equipment at all times, per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to mitigate staffing shortages.

This press release was produced by the Wake County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.