The state’s largest active outbreak of the novel coronavirus at a long-term care facility continues to worsen at Canby’s Marquis Hope Village Post-Acute Rehab center.
According to the Oregon Health Authority’s latest weekly report, 104 confirmed cases had been linked to the facility’s outbreak as of Sunday, June 21, along with 10 deaths. Those numbers include 33 residents and 43 staff members, including nine residents who have died at Marquis Hope Village.
The tenth death is “due to contract tracing and/or residents that have passed away at the hospital,” according to April Diaz, vice president of clinical services for Marquis Companies, which owns the rehab center.
“Hospitals and/or families do not always notify facilities when residents pass away,” she said in an email.
The discrepancy between the 104 confirmed cases and the 76 resident and employee cases reported by Marquis is also due to contact tracing by Clackamas County and OHA. The 28 additional cases would be relatives or other “close contacts” of staff members, and offer evidence that the virus has spread significantly beyond the walls of Marquis Hope Village.
“Due to new aggressive state measures on contact tracing and then testing of any known person who has been in direct contact with an individual who has tested positive, the county has been testing families of the staff at our facility and any of their contacts,” Diaz said. “Unfortunately, some of these family members are also testing positive and are now isolating in their homes.”
As the facility approaches day 21 of the outbreak that began June 4, they are starting to see improvements in “quite of few of our residents,” Diaz said.
“We have residents who remain asymptomatic, residents who previously had moderate symptoms are now mild, as well as critical residents that now have moderate symptoms,” she said.
Marquis continues to maintain aggressive isolation precautions, in accordance with the recommendations of the CDC, and have dedicated staff working with those residents. They have adequate supplies of personal protective equipment, and staff is wearing N95 masks at all times while caring for residents.
The adjacent Marquis at Hope Village Assisted Living facility, which is located in the same building, remains Covid-free. All 74 residents and 46 employees there have tested negative for Covid-19.
The outbreak is the second-largest all time behind the infamous Foster Creek in Southeast Portland, which was ultimately linked to 120 cases and 34 deaths.
