90-year-old woman who died from coronavirus lived in Burlington Life Care Center
A 90-year-old resident of a Coffey County nursing home has died after testing positive for COVID-19, marking Kansas’ 10th death from the virus.
Kansas health officials confirmed the death Wednesday. The woman, who had lived at the Life Care Center of Burlington, died Tuesday.
Kansas Department Health and Environment Secretary Lee Norman told reporters Wednesday the woman was a resident at the Life Care Center in Burlington, Kansas.
Life Care Centers for America said in a statement Monday 11 residents and seven workers have the virus. Some residents are hospitalized, and others are being treated at a facility in Burlington, a city of about 2,500 in eastern Kansas.
The workers are recovering at home, said Elizabeth Stockerbrand, executive director, in the statement Monday.
The company found out about the outbreak on March 26. Workers at the Burlington facility are being diligent with washing hands and using protective gear when needed, she said.
“Every associate is also screened when they arrive for work, including checking temperature, to ensure no additional sickness is brought into our building,” Stockerbrand said. “If they have a fever over 100.4, we send them home and ask they contact their personal physician.”
The company owns nursing homes in Seattle and Wyandotte County that have previously been linked to deaths from the coronavirus.
Coffey County health officials said in a statement Wednesday they were studying who the 90-year-old woman was in contact with. Any individuals in close contact with the woman will be isolated or quarantined at home.
This is the fourth outbreak at a facility owned by Life Care Centers of America, whose nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, has been linked to 37 deaths.
Life Care Center also operated a facility in Wyandotte County. Kansas’ first death was a man in his 70s, who was a resident of Life Care Center of Kansas City. He tested positive for the virus after his March 11 death. No one else at the facility tested positive for the virus.
Late last week, six coronavirus cases were identified at Life Care Center of St. Louis. Four residents were hospitalized as of Friday and two workers were recovering at home.
Nursing facilities across the country have struggled to keep the new coronavirus out, as the virus has proven to be particularly fatal for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
Eight cases of COVID-19 have been linked to an assisted living facility in Springfield. Three have died and four were hospitalized as of Friday. Health officials in Greene County said a woman in her 90s died before any residents had been tested.