Coronavirus death toll in Sonoma County extends to fourth nursing home

Aug. 5--The coronavirus outbreak that has ravaged Sonoma County senior care homes with nearly 450 infections and 35 deaths has widened this week to include a fourth skilled nursing center that has reported at least one fatality, according to state public health data.

The disclosure to the state by Sonoma Post Acute of a resident's virus-related death came as county health officials confirmed Wednesday the three latest local casualties attributed to complications of the infectious disease also were residents of unidentified senior care homes. All three were women with underlying health conditions, two of them nursing home residents while the other had lived in a residential care facility.

The three fatalities raise the county's death toll from COVID-19 since March to 42, including 35 victims who were residents of some kind of senior care home. That large portion of overall fatalities shows how the virus has deeply infiltrated the vulnerable elderly population living in local skilled nursing facilities and other residential care homes and assisted living centers.

Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said Wednesday seniors in skilled nursing centers usually have many underlying medical conditions that make them extremely prone to any illness. Deaths occur among these residents apart from the pandemic.

But COVID-19 has added another layer of "tragedy" to this vulnerable population, Mase said during a press briefing.

"I'm sure there are excessive deaths amongst skilled nursing residents as a result of COVID," she said.

Among the three most recent deaths was a woman over 64 who died Tuesday at the residential care home where she had lived. The two skilled nursing residents died at local hospitals. One was between 45 and 64 and died Saturday and the other was over 64 and died Monday.

County health officials on Wednesday declined to disclose any other information about the three women or specifically where they died and when they contracted the virus.

To date, four local skilled nursing homes have reported deaths, as required by the California Department of Public Health, which publishes the data on its COVID-19 website for skilled nursing homes.

On Monday, Sonoma Post Acute reported it had at least one death. Skilled nursing centers are required to report to the state deaths that occur in the past 24 hours.

They are also required to report coronavirus infections among residents and staff. However, the state shields the exact number of COVID-19 deaths and cases until a single facility reports 11 or more infections or deaths.

In addition to the resident's death, Sonoma Post Acute reported that 23 residents and at least one staff member have been afflicted with the virus. The skilled nursing center referred a reporter's questions about the fatality and infections to Dan Kramer, president of KPA Strategies, an El Dorado Hills public relations firm.

Reached by email, Kramer said Wednesday evening he had yet to receive a response from Sonoma Post Acute's managers regarding questions related to a coronavirus outbreak there.

Since last month when Sonoma County landed on the state's coronavirus watchlist of counties struggling most to contain viral transmission, cases of COVID-19 have soared. In the past three weeks, total cases countywide have risen from 2,000 to 3,200. That means 37.5% of the county's infections during the first five months of the pandemic have occurred during that three-week stretch.

Besides Sonoma Post Acute, the other three skilled nursing homes that have reported virus-related deaths are Broadway Villa Post Acute in Sonoma, Petaluma Post-Acute Rehab and EmpRes Post Acute Health and Rehabilitation in Petaluma.

As of Tuesday, Broadway Villa also has reported a total of 47 residents and 23 staff have tested positive for COVID-19. EmPres has 43 residents and 14 staff infected. And Petaluma Post Acute has 18 residents and 17 staff that have been infected.

Sonoma County is home to 20 skilled nursing homes and 177 residential care facilities. In the past month, COVID-19 has spread rapidly through these facilities, despite ramped-up infection-control efforts county health officials have helped administer. And this week at the county's request, state public health experts are also providing on-site assistance with the goal of stopping the deadly virus spread.

On July 5, there were 95 COVID-19 cases at local senior care sites, including 34 skilled nursing center residents and 22 residents of residential care homes. At that time, staff that had tested positive for the virus numbered 21 at skilled nursing homes and 18 staff at residential care sites.

Now a month later, according to the latest county data, 448 residents at senior care sites have tested positive -- more than a fourfold jump -- with 325 of those cases at skilled nursing facilities and 123 of them in residential care homes.

Of the 325 skilled nursing home cases, 194 involve residents and 131 are among staff. Of the 123 cases at residential care sites, 69 residents and 54 staff have been infected by the virus.

Also, a month ago, there were only seven virus-related deaths at senior care sites, five times less than the current total of 35.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.

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