HUDSON — A recent spike in COVID-19 cases at Livingston Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is slowing down.
After a surge in the number of virus cases, the facility is down to one resident and no employees testing positive for the coronavirus.
Nursing homes across the country have been hit hard by the pandemic that began its inexorable march across the United States in mid-March. Elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions are particularly vulnerable to serious or lethal cases of the virus.
Two residents at Livingston Hills have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic and 37 residents and 15 staff members have tested positive for the virus over the past several months, Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said Tuesday.
But the facility’s numbers have declined in recent weeks, he said.
“We have three nursing homes that all had outbreaks recently,” Mabb said.
A Jan. 28 announcement from the facility introduced Nathan Pasik as the new administrator at Livingston Hills. In the most recent infection control survey from the state Department of Health, the facility had been found to be deficiency-free, Pasik said in a letter to Livingston Hills families last month.
Pasik declined to comment Tuesday on the decrease in the number of positive COVID cases.
In addition to Livingston Hills, the Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Barnwell and Ghent Rehabilitation and Nursing Center have seen recent surges in the number of COVID cases.
Livingston Hills announced in December it was transferring 16 of its residents to other facilities because several staff members had tested positive and had to quarantine.
The number of COVID-19 infections is showing signs of slowing down, according to a statement from Livingston Hills.
The facility announced Jan. 27 there were 22 employees and eight residents who tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The next day one resident died from COVID and there were 22 furloughed employees and 13 positive residents, according to a statement from the facility. On Feb. 1, the facility had 14 furloughed staff and 14 residents who were positive.
Livingston Hills announced Feb. 4 that six furloughed staff members and 16 residents tested positive for COVID-19. Those numbers decreased slightly again Feb. 8 when a statement from the facility reported there were six furloughed staff and 13 residents with the virus.
The facility announced Feb. 9 no employees were furloughed and 12 residents had tested positive. Three days later, the facility was down to nine residents testing positive.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Livingston Hills reports one COVID-positive resident and no staff members with the virus.
The facility held its third vaccination clinic for staff and residents Feb. 9.
Columbia County has reported a total of 3,393 coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the county Department of Health. As of Saturday, the county had 269 active positive cases, 25 residents hospitalized and one person in the intensive-care unit, with 388 residents in mandatory quarantine.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, the Columbia County Department of Health has reported 83 COVID-related deaths in the county including one additional death reported Tuesday afternoon.