Coronavirus Latest: 170 COVID-19 Cases Reported At FutureCare Lochearn In NW Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- There are 170 confirmed cases of coronavirus at the FutureCare senior care facility in Lochearn, which attributes to the 223 COVID-19 cases reported in the 21215 zip code.
The 21215 zip code has the highest number of cases in Maryland.
Baltimore Mayor Jack Young said of the cases at the facility in the 4800 block of Seton Drive, 129 are residents and 41 are staff members.
"We were very concerned about that," Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott said.
Scott added that he wants patients inside to know they're working to keep them safe.
"We have to communicate with the population to make sure they know we're keeping them informed and healthy and safe and alive," Scott said. "Everybody has to be communicated with consistently, especially the most vulnerable."
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FutureCare proactively implemented a process known as 'widespread surveillance testing' at that Lochearn site, which monitors the intensity and spread of the disease in a community with high transmission.
"Many of the people who have tested positive are not symptomatic, but this proactive testing allows the medical staff to monitor, and also isolate positive patients," the city said in a statement.
"The Baltimore City Health Department is aware of the confirmed COVID-19 cases at the FutureCare – Lochearn location, and is working diligently with FutureCare management," Young said. "I have spoken with Health Commissioner Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, and will continue to monitor the situation at this facility."
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"We will continue to provide additional support as needed to help FutureCare support its patients and staff," Dr. Dzirasa said.
The Baltimore City Health Department is working closely with the Maryland Department of Health, LifeBridge Health, and Johns Hopkins to address the positive cases at the facility.
The following actions have taken place to slow the spread:
- In conjunction with the Baltimore City Health Department, the Maryland Department of Health dispatched one of the State's Strike Teams for Nursing Homes to the facility. The team is composed of members of the National Guard, representatives of local and state health departments, and EMS clinicians, as well as doctors and nurses from local hospital systems.
- Baltimore City Health Department distributed personal protective equipment (PPE) from the Strategic National Stockpile and from the Maryland Department of Health's PPE cache.
- The State worked with the Baltimore City Health Department to conduct a site assessment, and helped coordinate efforts with LifeBridge Health and Johns Hopkins.
- LifeBridge Health worked with FutureCare to test all of the residents and staff on site, and provided PPE.
- LifeBridge sent a medical survey team to provide recommendations to FutureCare management and to assist in establishing medical protocols.
"Our Lochearn facility cares for an elderly population with underlying conditions in the highest COVID-19 impacted zip code in the city, 21215. Therefore, we sought to be the first company to proactively implement a process known as 'widespread surveillance testing'," FutureCare Spokeswoman Holly O'Shea said. "This testing monitors the intensity and spread of the disease in a community with high transmission, like zip code 21215."
"Given this location is also a large facility, with 200 beds, we felt strongly that it was important to know who was carrying the virus, even if they didn't present specific COVID-19 symptoms, to mitigate its spread and protect our staff and residents," O'Shea continued. "In fact, most of our positives tested over the weekend presented no symptoms of any kind. This type of surveillance testing is unprecedented and can save lives."
"FutureCare's highest priority continues to be the safety and wellbeing of our staff and residents, and we will continue to work diligently with the state and local health departments, our LifeBridge health partners, and our Johns Hopkins infectious disease consultant, to protect our staff and residents," she continued."FutureCare has employed infection control procedures, and was an early adapter of visitation restriction, universal masking, and have implemented all of Governor Hogan's orders."
According to officials, all residents who tested negative for COVID-19 are being moved out of the facility.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
