South Charlotte senior home has 16 COVID-19 cases. Most are asymptomatic, staff say
At least 14 patients and two employees have tested positive for COVID-19 at a south Charlotte senior living community, officials there said.
Staff from Sharon Towers, which has independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing care, posted on its website that it began widespread testing after discovering one employee had tested positive and several residents had suspected cases.
After an employee who works with skilled nursing and assisted living residents was found on Friday to have COVID-19, officials began testing all residents and staff in those areas, about 200 people, Sharon Towers said in the statement.
Most of those testing positive were asymptomatic, officials said.
Anne Moffat, Sharon Towers President and CEO, said in an email Tuesday that all residents and staff in those units have been tested except one, whose test needs to be re-administered.
“No additional positive cases have been identified in residents,” she wrote. “The majority of the residents remain asymptomatic and we are carefully monitoring everyone for any changes in severity of symptoms.”
In the online statement, Sharon Towers staff said the ability to retest on a weekly basis is subject to test kit availability.
“While availability of kits is not under our control, we continue to work with our medical director, health care partners and state authorities in order to access as many as possible,” the statement read. “It is our greatest desire that increased testing may at some point be more widely available.”
The facility had one previous positive COVID-19 test, in a resident in independent living. Tests done for the next 40 days came back negative, officials said.
The facility had previously separated staff who work in the independent living areas from those who work with residents needing more care.
Congregate settings, such as nursing homes and prisons, have been hot spots for COVID-19 outbreaks in North Carolina, The Observer has previously reported.
More than half of the 74 deaths reported in Mecklenburg County as of Friday are connected to active outbreaks at long-term care facilities, according to county health officials.
Sharon Towers is among 16 congregate living facilities listed as having an active outbreak on the Mecklenburg County website.
County health officials did not respond to questions from the Observer.
People age 60 and older and those with underlying health conditions are considered high-risk for complications associated with a COVID-19 infection.
This work was made possible in part by grant funding from Report for America/GroundTruth Project and the Foundation For The Carolinas.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 9:50 AM.
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