Nursing home residents, staff feel impacts of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania

Staff and residents at local nursing homes are trying to prevent COVID-19 from further spreading

Nursing homes are trying to find solutions to help prevent COVID-19 from spreading to staffers and residents. FOX 29's Jeff Cole reports.

PENNSYLVANIA - Nursing homes are being hit especially hard by the coronavirus. In the Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, 88 residents have contracted COVID-19, 26 staff members have tested positive for the deadly virus, and 17 residents have died. The facility has been hit so hard members of the National Guard were called in.

According to a count by area health officials, 74 nursing home residents in Delaware County have died from coronavirus and 35 in neighboring Chester County.

FULL COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS | National Guard medical task force arrives at Delaware County nursing home

"Of the 423 total deaths, 220 of them or 52 percent are nursing home residents, so nursing homes continue to bear the brunt of this epidemic," Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said.

The numbers are more grim in Philadelphia where the city’s health commissioner reports nursing home deaths make up over half of the total COVID-19 death count in the city.

"We were also working directly with nursing homes before the virus arrived here with infectious control techniques, how to avoid getting it in the facility," Dr. Farley added.

He also says it’s a tough combination of factors—the vulnerable elderly, susceptible to severe infections, and a ruthless virus.

Chester County, which runs its own long tern care facility, is posting a COVID-19 count for on it’s website. It reports positive cases and deaths in Chester and Delaware County nursing homes to keep the public informed on this difficult health crisis.

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