COVID-19 stats reported for nursing homes
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
As state numbers continue to decrease slightly, the confirmed COVID-19 count in Escambia County — and the number of fatal cases — continues to climb.
According to the twice-weekly report issued jointly Tuesday, June 23, by Escambia County Healthcare Authority and Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), 158 cases have now been confirmed in the county, with six deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
ADPH officials reported 433 new COVID-19 cases in Alabama on Monday, June 22, the second-lowest daily total in the past two weeks. The number of confirmed cases began to fall slightly over the past weekend, with 543 reported on Saturday, June 20, and 472 on Sunday, June 21.
Atmore Community Hospital’s staff has collected 683 specimens, with 70 positive and 564 negative results. The results of 38 tests are pending, and two have produced inconclusive results.
At D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton, 365 people have been tested, with 15 positive and 339 negative results. Ten samples are pending test results, and one sample was inconclusive.
ADPH reports that 348,687 tests have been administered statewide, with 30,031 confirmed cases and 831 deaths.
Nursing center data
Data recently released by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shows that Atmore Nursing Center is one of the county’s “hot spots” for the novel coronavirus.
According to CMS data, ANC had reported through June 7 that 25 residents and 12 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, and that one resident had died as a result of the illness. The death occurred prior to May 24. Of the total confirmed cases at the nursing home, 19 residents and seven staff members tested positive between May 30 and June 7.
CMS statistics showed that West Gate Village, a Brewton nursing home, had reported no confirmed cases among its resident population through June 7. One staff member was suspected of having the virus, but test results had not been received by the reporting date.
A spokesman for The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported that the agency began making the data public after ADPH refused to do so.
Nationally, more than 95,000 nursing home residents have contracted the virus, and almost 32,000 have died from it. In Alabama, there have been 1,000 confirmed cases and 335 deaths among nursing home populations.
More than 95 percent of Alabama nursing homes submitted coronavirus information to CMS, which regulates the facilities. The rest face fines beginning at $1,000 if they fail to comply after a grace period.
Each nursing home is also required to report cases to the county health department, state health department and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.