DANVIVLLE, W.Va. — A Boone County Nursing home continues to combat an outbreak of Covid 19 which has left the facility reeling.
Six elderly residents of Hillcrest Health Care Center in Danville have died since last Wednesday. The victims were elderly and suffered from other conditions which made Covid far more deadly to their systems. Beyond the deaths almost a third of the facility’s population has tested positive and is placed into isolation.
“They’ve been testing everybody, residents and employees, once or twice a week. One night they found a positive employees and then a positive resident. They immediately stepped into the appropriate protocol,” said Julie Miller, Administrator at the Boone County Health Department.
Officials at the facility, according to Miller were doing all they could to protect their population and following all of the suggested guidelines. The virus seemed to sneak up on them and once it was there, couldn’t be controlled. Those infected are isolated into a separate section of the facility, but a number of the staff members are off the job in quarantine as well. Miller said those who are left are struggling.
“They’re shorthanded to the point they’re working 12 hour shifts. They’re stressed, physically too. They’re going on a wing and a prayer like the rest of us,” she explained.