MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A total of 21 patients and eight staff members at Sundale Nursing Home in Morgantown have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Thursday.
A handful of the patients are being treated by Ruby Memorial and Mon General hospitals while the others will be moved into a newly prepared isolation wing at Sundale.
Sundale Marketing Director Donna Tennant said the eight staff members are quarantining at home.
The West Virginia National Guard came to Sundale to help test those at the home once the first confirmed case was learned last weekend. There were still three tests pending Thursday.
Tennant said COVID-19 is a very difficult sickness to detect by symptoms alone.
“Once they get a fever they get some coughs or headaches, that sort of thing,” Tennant said. “That might go on for four or five days before you see any type of major illness.”
Tennant said the staff is constantly monitoring the other residents for symptoms.
“If we get through this weekend, we’re going to know how things are going,” Tennant said. “Whether we have a turn for the worst, or we continue to drift along.”
Staff at Sundale are now checking their temperature at the beginning of their shift and once during.
Tennant said the residents and staff have been humbled by the large number of community members who have flocked to the facility with donations.
“We’ve had cases of water and food, snacks for the staff,” Tennant said. “The love and support of the community is above and beyond what we could have ever imagined.”
There are 98 patients at Sundale.