AURORA, Colo. — A COVID-19 outbreak at an Aurora nursing home has resulted in at least 49 positive cases and eight deaths, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).
CDPHE said Saturday that it was working with the Tri-County Health Department on an investigation into the outbreak at Juniper Village, 11901 E. Mississippi Ave. It's one of 59 outbreaks at residential and non-hospital health-care facilities in the state as of April 10.
There have been five deaths at Juniper Village that are confirmed as related to COVID-19 and another three deaths that the Arapahoe County Coroner's Office considers as probable cases of COVID-19, according to a news release.
On March 27, Tri-County Health Department notified CDPHE that several health-care workers from the facility had tested positive, according to the release.
After learning of the positive cases among its staff members, the corporation that owns the facility, Juniper Communities, had its own testing done through a private lab. That testing found that 33 of 46 residents and 16 of 25 staff members were positive for COVID-19.
Epidemiologists with CDPHE and Tri-County Health have conducted virtual consultations with Juniper Village on the nursing home's current practices and have provided assistance and support on preventing infections, PPE and staffing.
Also, after receiving a formal complaint regarding the nursing home's infection-prevention practices, a team from CDPHE's Health Facilities Division visited the facility on April 2.
The investigation is ongoing and could take several months, according to the release.
“We know that the populations in these facilities are among the most vulnerable and are at highest risk of severe illness from this virus,” said Rachel Herlihy, CDPHE's state epidemiologist, in the release. "We continue to be aggressive in our recommendations to ensure the appropriate infection prevention measures are in place to slow and limit the spread of COVID-19 in these facilities.”
Data obtained by 9Wants to Know shows that at least 47 people have died of COVID-19 at nursing facilities across the state as of April 5. Eight more deaths are being investigated. At least 182 cases of the virus were confirmed in those facilities.
Another nursing home in Aurora, Cherry Creek Nursing Center, has reported 11 deaths confirmed to be caused by COVID-19.
A Greeley nursing home, Centennial Healthcare Center, has reported 14 COVID-19 deaths.
CDPHE said that starting Wednesday, it will release more details on outbreaks in residential facilities, including the facility's name, the number of confirmed cases among staff and residents, and the number of deaths related to COVID-19. That information will be updated every Wednesday on the state's COVID-19 website.
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