After months keeping COVID-19 at bay, Sea Breeze Rehab and Nursing Center is experiencing an explosion of cases, with 39 residents in the 110-bed facility testing positive for the virus, as well as 18 staff members, according to the state’s long-term care facility report. Four residents have died. Three of the four were hospitalized on the same day, July 11.
Sea Breeze tested all its residents and staff in a statewide sweep of long-term care testing. The daughter of one of the residents who died said she got a call about a month ago that no one tested positive at that time. Then, in early July, there was a call saying two staffers had tested positive along with one or two residents, she said. Those cases apparently opened the door to the disease.
The Health Department’s Miranda Hawker said at a Friday news conference that the Health Department routinely responds to outbreaks in long-term care facilities, giving guidance to staff on isolating patients and conducting more tests.
“We have opened up a COVID unit so we can take care of our patients here, and we’re setting up something with Cleveland Clinic so when people are getting sick enough that we can’t manage them, they’re letting us take them there,” said Sea Breeze’s director of nursing, Steve Pendleton.
Palm Garden of Vero, another nursing home nearby, is showing 12 positive residents and 10 staff members. Consulate has 11 positive staff members and two residents testing positive. Pelican Landing in Sebastian had 8 positive staff members. In all, 19 facilities out of the county’s 25 long-term care facilities have COVID-19 infections.
At the same time, Rosewood Manor, hit hard with COVID-19 in late June is starting to see its COVID-19 positive residents return after they were transferred to facilities better able to care for them. The outbreak resulted in more than two dozen people infected in a facility half the size of Sea Breeze. Owner Don Wright blamed the spread on a weeks-long delay in test results that, had they been received within a week, as expected, would have started the isolation process sooner. Four residents who died during that period tested positive for COVID-19.
“We have new folks on a waiting list,” said Wright. “When we know for sure the coast is clear, we’ll welcome them home, too.”
