BURLINGTON – Alamance County Health Department has identified an outbreak at the assisted living facility Blakey Hall in Elon. Currently, two (2) cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at the facility. The confirmed cases are among one (1) staff and one (1) resident. The staff person is an Alamance County resident. NC DHHS defines an outbreak as two laboratory-confirmed cases in a period of 28 days within a congregate living or long-term care facility.
“We contacted the Alamance County Health Department to report the [COVID-19] results, as well as to seek any additional guidance once we received the results,” stated Ed Weeks, Executive Director of Blakey Hall in Elon. “We also communicated with our residents’ families and responsible parties to inform them of our results. The cases are concentrated in our special care unit for dementia residents. Our medical provider responded quickly to provide testing for all of our residents and staff in the unit. We will continue to work with the Health Department to aggressively protect our residents and staff. Our local health department has been an exceptional resource for our senior care facilities throughout this pandemic and we continue to appreciate their services.”
Weeks further stated “We will continue to exercise our current restrictions and sanitation practices. We are monitoring our residents and staff daily for symptoms and will be testing weekly until we no longer have any cases in our facilities.”
“Blakey Hall has worked in collaboration with the Health Department and we appreciate their continuous efforts to protect residents and staff,” stated Interim Health Director Alexandria Rimmer. “They worked quickly to test all staff and residents as soon as the outbreak was identified; we will continue to work together to keep those residents and staff safe.”
Alamance County Health Department identified its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 20. Since then, a total of 3493 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the community. Of those confirmed cases, 3162 have been released from isolation and 282 remain active and in isolation. Included in those active cases, 14 individuals are receiving care at a hospital. Sadly, there have been 49 COVID-19 related deaths. COVID-related deaths include only patients who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, and who died without fully recovering from the disease.
We are continuing to see COVID-19 in Alamance County through community-spread transmission. It is important to continue practicing the 3Ws to keep our friends, family, and neighbors safe. If you leave your home remember to: wear a cloth mask over your nose and mouth, wait six feet apart and avoid close contact, and wash your hands or use hand sanitizer if handwashing is not readily accessible. We are all in this together, thank you for you diligence to keep our community safe.
