COVID-19 Hit Atria Marland Place | News

ANDOVER — An outbreak of COVID-19 at the Atria Marland Place Support Living Complex off Stevens Street in late October left 14 seniors in the hospital and 7 dead.

In total, 71 people, including 50 residents and 21 employees, tested positive for the deadly virus as a result of exposure in their place of residence.

Tom Carbon, of the Andorber Health Commission, said the illness was most likely caused by employees working at the facility.

“My intuition is that a few employees have joined,” said Carbon, who has died in Bear Mountain on Dover Street, killing 13 people and academy manners on Morton Street since May. He added that it is the worst local cluster of COVID in a care facility. I was struck at 25.

“Here it is,” he said, referring to the virus. “We are in the midst of the next surge.”

A spokesman for Atria Marland Place said the first positive employee test was confirmed on October 29th.

Kimberly Cordea, regional vice president of Atria Senior Living, a Kentucky-based company with 205 facilities in 26 states, including Newburyport, said the inspection clinic was held on November 3 and affirmed. Results were not obtained.

“Since then, we’ve done more than five more days of testing in November,” she said. “If we didn’t test in November, it’s unclear if the current outbreak will be limited to the current scale.”

The backed living company did not provide a detailed breakdown of when additional positive tests were recorded, but Andorbertown manager Andrew Flanagan made a detailed statement on Tuesday night with a timeline of action. Provided.

“A cluster of cases was identified and Atria took the right steps to test all residents and staff of the facility. Between November 5 and 8, 11 staff and 5 The resident of the person was positive. “

On November 8, Carbone was briefed by the company’s management about the situation, at which point “the building was immediately closed to visitors and resident programming was closed.”

Mr. Carbon visited the facility on November 10 and confirmed that “everyone coming in through the door was being screened (only medical professionals were coming in and out). At that point, 33 new people were coming in and out. Cases have been confirmed in the population, “Flanagan said.

For the next five days, town officials, along with state public health and elders officials, worked with Atria Marland Place managers to publish guidelines for assisted living homes on November 16.

Guidelines include restricting staff movement between cohorts, separating caregivers to focus on positive or negative cases, using vacant apartments for breaks instead of break rooms, and indoors. It included providing meals only and requiring the staff of the memory care unit to serve meals to the residents of that unit.

As of November 16, 16 of the 119 residents of the facility were being treated outside the building, and 16 of the 36 memory care residents were positive, according to Flanagan. ..

On November 18, Flanagan said five new cases were presented in an additional test round. By November 19, 46 cases had occurred, 26 of which were in the memory care unit.

On November 23, six people were reported dead. A seventh person died on Tuesday, according to Codair.

According to Flanagan, another full-round test was scheduled for Tuesday, and a telephone meeting with company, state and local authorities was scheduled for Wednesday.

The EOEA state authorities, which oversee the Assisted Living Complex, are working closely with Atria Marland Place and town authorities to contain the outbreak.

“Since the state noticed the outbreak at Atria Marland Place on November 10, EOEA-backed home certification units have been in frequent contact with homes to provide infection control and management support over the phone.” Said Julia Kapp, EOEA spokesman. .. “These calls include epidemiologists from the Local Health Commission and the Faculty of Public Health who support infection control and contact tracing.”

According to Carbon, contact tracing was done by Atria Marland Place. Since such facilities are private and unfunded by the state, they are responsible for self-reported cases and deaths as a result of COVID-19.

“With the rise of community infections in Massachusetts, DPH has updated monitoring test guidance for nursing homes, rest areas, and livelihood homes, increasing all staff testing to at least once a week,” Kapp said. “.

“This will allow the facility to detect new cases of asymptomatic staff early and further mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” she said, requiring nursing homes and rest homes to comply with this guidance. There is, but Assisted Living Residences stick to it. “

“To protect residents and staff in the face of unprecedented public health conditions such as preventative testing, contact tracing, and infectious disease protocols that are continually upgraded in response to changing circumstances,” Codair said. We are doing everything we can. “

“We also have the dual obligation of ensuring that residents live their best lives regardless of safety and circumstances during and after Thanksgiving holidays, and the safety of staff and residents. We have taken precautionary measures to optimize. ”

Of the 21 infected employees, seven have recovered after quarantine and are on track, Kodea said.

“The rest of the employees who test positive continue to be quarantined from the community, and all residents who test positive are quarantined and receive appropriate care,” she said. “This care is provided by staff designated to assist only residents who are symptomatic or have been tested positive for COVID-19.”

Assisted Living facilities will continue to limit access to only critical visitors, regularly screen staff temperature and symptoms, frequently monitor resident symptoms, and ensure that staff always wear appropriate PPE. Requesting.

“We follow the guidelines recommended by the Elders, Andover Health Service, and Massachusetts Public Health Service to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to protect the health of residents and employees. I have, “she said. “In addition, we arranged additional tests for both residents and staff within a few days.”