34 Coronavirus Cases At Pierce County Senior Home

TACOMA, WA — At least 27 residents and seven employees have tested positive for the new coronavirus at a senior home in Central Pierce County, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. Public health officials said the first positive case was identified in an employee at Gibraltar Senior Living on April 9.

Related: More Than 12,000 Coronavirus Cases In Washington; 652 Dead

"Health Department disease investigators immediately contacted facility leadership to discuss monitoring staff and residents for illness, limiting visitors, supply and usage of personal protective equipment, and instructed that staff should wear a mask at all times, said Nigel Turner, director of the Communicable Disease Control Division. "We developed a plan to test residents and staff and instructed the facility to cancel group activities, stagger meal service, and enforce social distancing."

The health department said the facility's first confirmed case among a resident was confirmed on Sunday, April 12, and four additional cases were identified a day later. Approximately 41 residents live at the home, and all were tested by Thursday, April 16, officials said. No deaths have been reported among patients from the facility.

Among Pierce County's 1,188 lab-confirmed COVID-19 illnesses, approximately 15 percent are among residents or staff in "congregate care settings," according to the health department. Approximately 500 such facilities operate across the county.

Nursing homes and long-term care facilities have been hit especially hard during the pandemic, accounting for nearly 8,500 deaths linked to the virus across the United States, according to the Associated Press. Federal officials announced Monday they would begin tracking and sharing information infections and deaths at the facilities to help spot early signs of a potential outbreak.

At least 1,188 illnesses in Pierce County; 34 dead

County health officials confirmed 25 new coronavirus cases Monday and five additional deaths linked to COVID-19 including:

A Tacoma woman in her 80s with existing health concerns
A Tacoma woman in her 80s with an unknown medical history
A Tacoma man in his 70s with an unknown medical history
A Puyallup woman in her 70s with existing health concerns
A Bonney Lake man in his 60 with existing health concerns

Pierce County accounts for the third-highest number of coronavirus cases in Washington.