WEBSTER, MASS. (WHDH) – Three people have died and dozens more have been infected after a coronavirus outbreak spread rapidly through a Webster rehabilitation center last month, a city official said.
A total of 51 of 58 residents at the Brookside Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks, according to Webster Town Administrator Doug Willardson.
The first positive test was reported on Dec. 22, Willardson said. Fifty more positive cases have been reported since then.
Six residents were admitted to hospital and three others died from the virus. Two people have since been discharged from hospital.
“Our residents, they are not … they are not our patients … they are our family,” said Felicia O’Keefe, director of nursing. ‘There are many who regard us more as grandparents as patients. It is definitely hitting us very hard right now. ”
Willardson noted that the cause of the outbreak was linked to a certified nursing assistant who was asymptomatic but later tested positive.
“He worked asympathetically for several long shifts – not knowing he was sick and that is unfortunately the identified way it got into our building,” O’Keefe confirmed.
Webster, director of public health, Jennifer Sullivan, confirmed that the national guard had responded to the facility.
“It is more than disturbing to see this happening within such a close-knit community within the walls,” Sullivan said in a statement. “They continue to provide the best care and attention to their residents during this devastating time and have the support of the National Guard and the Rapid Response Team.”
Sullivan added that the facility has “risen above all procedures and protocols” since the start of the pandemic.
In November, the facility said on Facebook that it had been COVID-free since the start of the pandemic.
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