The coronavirus continues to take a deadly toll among residents of California nursing homes, with some facilities being particularly hard hit.
In Tulare County, there have been 20 deaths among residents of Redwood Springs Healthcare in Visalia as of Friday, spokesman David Oates said.
Eighteen deaths have occurred among residents of Cedar Mountain Post Acute Rehabilitation in Yucaipa, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Outside help has been brought in to some facilities.
Medical teams from the California National Guard were sent to four Los Angeles County nursing homes this week, Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma told the Southern California News Group.
As of Thursday, Los Angeles County reported 310 deaths involving institutional settings, the majority being residents of skilled nursing facilities.
“We’re increasing our capacity to support all of the employees and residents at our nursing homes with help from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged Monday that a state nursing home tracker released last week would be updated that day to start including deaths at each site. On Friday, it was updated with cumulative nursing home deaths but not the total at each facility.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and death.
