A second resident at Country Side Living has died from complications of the novel coronavirus and other underlying terminal medical conditions. The resident was an 83-year-old woman who tested positive April 20 and died May 7 at Country Side.
She was the second confirmed case of Covid-19 linked to the facility, which serves only residents with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The first confirmed case was also the first death: a 93-year-old woman who also had underlying conditions and passed away April 27.
Country Side spokeswoman Michele Quinn said the second resident had been on hospice care prior to being diagnosed with the coronavirus, and it wasn’t initially clear if her death would be deemed Covid-related.
However, county public health experts informed the facility that Covid-19 was considered a contributing factor, and the death would be included in the state’s official count.
“We have had additional staff test negative, and at this point are still testing residents if they develop symptoms, based on guidance from [Oregon Department of Human Services], Clackamas County Health, or a specific request from the family or their doctor,” Quinn said. “All previous positive residents and employees are still doing well.”
The facility has reported a total of seven cases for residents, five of which are still considered active at this time. Residents who test positive are being quarantined to their rooms for a minimum of 14 days, then monitored for symptoms for an additional three days.
Three employees have also tested positive, one of whom is still under the 14-day quarantine.
That’s a total of 10 cases for Country Side — a number that has not changed in two weeks.
In its past two weekly reports, the Oregon Health Authority has reported 12 cases of residents and staff linked to the long-term care facility in downtown Canby. Quinn said their number appears to be in error, but efforts to correct it have gone in vain.
“The count is supposed to be getting fixed,” Quinn told the Canby Now Podcast this week. “We are concerned that it says 12 online when we are reporting 10, but all I can say for now is that it is an error.”
All of Country Side’s cases have been contained to the north building, which is larger and located across Fir Street from the newer south building.
Canby has seen 29 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, according to OHA, which only recently began sharing weekly case counts by ZIP code. Deaths are still being reported only at the county level. As of Thursday morning, Clackamas has been linked to nine of the state’s 134 deaths.
