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Chester County Health Department adds COVID-19 data for long term care facilities

Updated  April 21, 2020 9:39pm EDT
Chester County
FOX 29 Philadelphia

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FOX 29's Dawn Timmeney reports.

CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. - With the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the state of Pennsylvania, Chester County has added some new data to get a better representation of the effects the pandemic has on its older residents.

The Chester County Health Department has added new information, specifically focused on long-term facilities and personal care homes to their website.

 “The data we are publishing helps to give context to our overall case numbers and is a snapshot of the challenges that our long-term care facilities and personal care homes are facing. Our definition of ‘outbreak’ begins with just one case in a congregate care setting, so the data we are reporting reflects that,” said Chester County Health Department Director, Jeanne Casner.

FULL COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS

The Chester County Health Department aims to assist long-term care facilities and personal care homes in identifying cases, reviewing their practices and managing the spread of the Coronavirus around these areas where people are most at risk.

“Given the congregate nature of long-term care facilities and personal care homes, and the fact that they serve older adults who often have underlying chronic medical conditions, they are at the highest risk of being affected by COVID-19.”

While many of the facilities are working to contain the virus, the Chester County Health Department also realizes that many of the staff, residents, and families may be in need of emotional and mental health support.

“Staff of long-term care facilities and personal care homes are understandably feeling worn out and at times, helpless, residents are fearful and families are not feeling as connected to their loved ones,” added Casner, “All of this takes its toll, so we are also working with staff in our human services department, department of aging and department of mental health services to provide holistic wellness support for everyone affected- staff, residents and families.”

The new data can be found on Chester County’s COVID-19 webpage, here.

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