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Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Gracedale Experiences First COVID Death Since April 30

What goes on at most nursing homes stay behind those closed doors. They are privately owned. Gracedale, however, is a publicly-owned facility. While you might be critical, I do believe that administrators there have been very transparent about the problems it faces. The chief of these is a staffing shortage, which has been addressed here on numerous occasions. The COVID-19 pandemic had taken a back seat to other problems, but that has changed with the advent of the Omicron variant. 

Executive Lamont McClure advised County Council on Thursday night that Gracedale has experienced its first COVID-19 related death since April 30. Over 90% of Gracedale's residents are vaccinated, but this person was in hospice and declined the jab. It could very well be that this resident, who was already ill, was a poor candidate for a job. 

In addition to the death, McClure reported that 45 of the 454 residents have tested positive for COVID, along with approximately 22 staffers. 

Omicron, however, seems to be going away as quickly as it came, at least here in the Lehigh Valley.  Steve Thode has told you about the precipitous drop in new cases. Lamont McClure added, in his report to Council, that there's also been a steep decline in those seeking tests. At the couny testing center on Emrick Blvd, 344 people sought testing, and 28% of them were positive,. But by January 20, that number had dropped to 40. Some of this, however, might be due to the increased availability of in-home tests. 
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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 25, 2022 at 7:27 AM

    There is no doubt in my mind that the pandemic has not peaked yet and the reported cases are not an indication of a reduction in the number of new cases. You hit the nail right on the head when you say the home test kits have reduced the number of people getting tested at the public facilities. It is also the reason the reporting of new cases reported has taken such a tremendous nosedive. People who home test are not reporting those results when they are tested positive. Home testing is falsifying the numbers by not reporting positive cases. People should be encouraged to continue wearing masks and follow the guidelines of the experts. We haven't peaked yet!

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 25, 2022 at 12:03 PM

    Whether we've peaked isn't quite the issue. Rather, it's whether we still have a high enough rate of infection such that we need to continue to take serious precautions. The answer to that is a clear "yes."

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 25, 2022 at 3:22 PM

    Sad. Gracedale has had some major problems.

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 26, 2022 at 3:25 PM

    Did this person die with covid or of covid? If they were in hospice and already declining which it sounds like it's not a Covid death. they died with covid. If I go to the hospital because of a car accident and in really bad shape and pass away and they find I had covid I didn't die because of it. you die with it.

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 26, 2022 at 9:33 PM

    Very sad when someone passes no matter the cause. A current issue related to Gracedale and all facilities is the federal mandate for workers to be vaccinated. Gracedale which is already facing way below state level staffing levels will now be faced with further loss of staff due to not being vaccinated. Despite what anyone may think about the mandates what we are left with is a facility that does not have enough staff to take care of residents. Come Friday more will go on a two week time off to get vaccinated or loose their job. Again that is the employees decision. However no one is planning on how to take care of the residents with this additional potentially large loss of over sixty staff members. No plans have been made to try to transfer residents or to argue that they can't terminate all these staff and still feed bathe shower dress toilet turn and position give meds etc to the residents they are there to protect and care for. Someone needs to address this for the sake of the residents.

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