A California assisted living community COVID-19 outbreak that led to four deaths and additional cases reportedly leads back to a “meth dealer” who exposed an employee to the virus, and then the employee unknowingly brought the virus into the building.
Although the Alder Bay Assisted Living battle against the novel coronavirus occurred in May, management of the Eureka, CA, community did not learn how the virus entered the building until last week, when they read a July 30 Bloomberg piece, according to a media report.
In the Bloomberg article, a county infectious disease nurse relayed her experiences in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, detailing contact tracing efforts about the virus’ local spread, when she provided information about a “meth dealer” who tested positive for the virus but ignored the health department’s guidance to isolate. That person started a trail of infection that led to the Alder Bay employee, who was asymptomatic, unknowingly bringing COVID-19 into the community. More than a dozen employees and residents were infected, and four people ultimately died.
The operator used the incident as an opportunity to educate the community about following the guidance of health professionals during the pandemic.
Adam Squires, vice president of sales and marketing for Oregon-based Ridgeline Management Co., which operates Alder Bay, said its facilities are not in the contact tracing profession, but rather focus on “taking care of people, and we’ll continue to do that.” Squires told McKnight’s Senior Living that the story highlights “the interconnectedness of all people — we’re only a step or two away from a senior at risk.”
“For us, we just want to keep taking care of the people we are tasked to take care of, and do so as safely as possible following guidelines from the state and the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],” Squires said.
