Care Facility Coronavirus Response 'Totally Appropriate': Northam

VIRGINIA — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam defended the state’s response to what is now the deadliest coronavirus outbreak at a long-term care facility in the United States. The latest numbers available show 45 residents of Canterbury Rehabilitation and Health Care in Henrico County near Richmond have died since March 18.

The number of residents of Canterbury who have died has pushed it past the 43 who died at Life Care nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, which previously had the deadliest outbreak.

"I believe the response was totally appropriate," Northam said at a press conference Wednesday in Richmond about how the state responded to the Canterbury outbreak. “To have an outbreak at a nursing home when that virus is introduced in that type of environment is a challenge. And we’re doing everything that we can."

On Tuesday, a second long-term care facility in the Richmond area announced an outbreak of the coronavirus. The Healthcare Center at Beth Sholom announced that "just over 25 patients and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19."

Beth Sholom, which serves senior citizens, is composed of an independent living apartment complex, two assisted living communities, an outpatient rehabilitation clinic and a health care center where all of the positive tests occurred.

"We are now working with the Henrico Health Department to test all of our residents in the Healthcare Center Location only. Accessing the number of kits necessary to complete that testing has been extremely difficult," Beth Shalom President and CEO Morris S. Funk said Wednesday in a statement.

Last Friday, Northam announced the creation of a coronavirus task force for long-term care facilities. The governor assigned Dr. Laurie Forlano, the Virginia Department of Health's deputy commissioner for public health, to lead the task force, with the goal of containing the spread of the coronavirus at long-term care facilities across the state.

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When asked Wednesday at the governor's press briefing what her task force is doing about the large number of people at the Beth Shalom facility who have tested positive for the coronavirus, Forlano said she "did not have any specific details about that facility." She said her task force is working to develop a more systems-level approach so it can strategically respond to all outbreaks at long-term care facilities instead of focusing on "ones that pop up here and there."

On Thursday, the Virginia Department of Health reported 13 additional deaths due to the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 illness. Statewide, cases reached 6,889 and deaths totaled 208.

Henrico County is reporting the most deaths from the coronavirus, at 57, with residents of the Canterbury facility making up the majority of deaths in the health district. Fairfax County has the next highest number of deaths at 31, followed by Arlington County at 15, the Peninsula Health District at 13 and Prince William County at 12.

According to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association's data tracker, which provides more detailed information on hospitalized patients than the Virginia Department of Health, 1,337 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus or are awaiting their coronavirus test results are hospitalized. According to the association, 951 people who were hospitalized with the coronavirus have been discharged.

Of the people hospitalized in Virginia with the coronavirus, 237 are currently on a ventilator. There are currently 700 ventilators in use at hospitals across Virginia for coronavirus and other reasons. That number represents about 25 percent of the total number of ventilators available in the state, according to the association.

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