Coronavirus ‘Outbreaks’ At Nursing Homes In Essex County: NJDOH – Caldwells, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — New Jersey health officials have begun to release coronavirus case and death statistics for nursing and retirement homes throughout the state, including Essex County.

The new statistics from the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) come after more than a dozen bodies were discovered at a “makeshift morgue” in a long-term care (LTC) facility in Andover last week. READ MORE: ‘Makeshift Morgue’ Nursing Home In NJ Had Violations, Complaints

According to the NJDOH, there are 40 LTC facilities in Essex County with “outbreaks” of COVID-19 as of Monday afternoon. That total includes 1,106 cases and 225 deaths linked to the disease.

According to state statistics, 20 percent of nursing/retirement home residents in Essex County who contracted the disease have died.

Comparatively, 754 of 10,713 (about 7 percent) of the total number of local residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died, according to statistics released by Essex County officials on Monday.

Essex County had the second-highest numbers in the state behind Bergen County, which had 2,197 cases and 431 deaths. The NJDOH breaks the totals down by municipality and facility here.

NURSING HOMES IN CORONAVIRUS: MIXED REACTIONS

Some people in Essex County have commended LTC staff members for trying the best they can in the face of an unexpected crisis.

In West Caldwell, the Crane’s Mill retirement home – which has a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services – has seen 18 deaths related to COVID-19, a document recently showed.

Administrators say they’ve been protecting staff and the facility’s 365 residents from the COVID-19 virus by implementing and adjusting protocols and policies to strictly adhere to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NJDOH.

“Like most senior living facilities across the Northeast Region, we faced challenges in mounting an impenetrable defense against this highly contagious virus that our health experts are still learning about,” said Colleen Frankenfield, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey (LSMNJ), which operates Crane’s Mill.

“It’s important to remember that these aren’t statistics, but people we care a great deal about,” Frankenfield told Patch.

Several people with family members at the facility have also defended its staff and living conditions, with one writing that they were “extremely impressed by Crane’s Mill’s response to the control of the spread.”

Residents of other Essex County municipalities have offered stiffer criticism of deaths at nursing and retirement homes in their borders, however.

Earlier this month, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the city is “getting ready to intervene” in some local nursing homes and LTCs after multiple COVID-19 deaths were reported.

“We’ve visited them and have been very disturbed by the conditions and the way they have taken care of our families,” Baraka alleged.

“Please call and check on your family members, ask about procedures and policies,” Baraka added. “We have given protocols about cleanliness, isolation, quarantining and contacting health providers.”

Statewide, 10,500 cases of COVID-19 have been identified at 420 long-term care facilities. There have been 1,730 deaths at these facilities, or about 17 percent, according to the NJDOH.

Out of 782 residents at veterans homes statewide, there have been 145 positive cases, with 57 deaths and 32 hospitalizations. Seventy of the 1,331 staff at veterans homes have tested positive for the virus. There have been seven deaths at psychiatric hospitals statewide.

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