Death toll reaches 10 in covid outbreak at Kane in Scott, with 78 active cases

Ten residents of Kane Community Living Center’s Scott location have died from covid-19 in an outbreak that was first detected in mid-September, facility officials said Oct. 9.

Kane has three other facilities, in Ross, Pittsburgh’s Glen Hazel neighborhood and McKeesport. Residents range from young people with disabilities to older patients receiving hospice care.

Kane’s medical director, Dr. Mario Fatigati, said he doesn’t believe the outbreak came from lax procedures.

“Our employees are human beings,” he said. “Are there things we could have done better? Possibly. I don’t think there was any gross breach of policy.”

Dennis Biondo, Kane’s executive director, said the Scott location is the only facility of the four that has active covid-19 cases. There were 78 as of Oct. 9, and a total of 105 residents have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began in March.

Biondo said there were 15 active cases among employees, and there have been 28 total cases in that group.

Biondo said the outbreak was first detected through universal testing Sept. 18. In the first few days, he said, many employees and staffers who tested positive were asymptomatic.

“We test more frequently since the outbreak,” he said. “Residents and staff are using full PPE (personal protective equipment), including N95 masks, gowns and gloves, and all persons within the facility are wearing N95 masks whether they’re applying resident care or not.”

A rapid response team did a walk-through of the facility and reviewed all policies and procedures prior to the outbreak being identified. After, Biondo said, the team assisted with testing, and members continue to be involved in daily calls in which staff and employees assess where residents stand.

He said the facility is keeping positive and negative patients separated, and employees who work with positive residents do not work with negative residents. Contact tracing happens within the facility, and officials are able to identify where employees have been in the building and whom they have worked with.

Seven residents have been hospitalized. Fatigati said residents are usually admitted to a hospital for antiviral therapies, because the facility is not permitted to administer them.

“We are doing everything in our power to treat our residents that are positive and protect our residents that are negative,” he said. “It’s not easy. These are older buildings. We have lots of residents, and when a virus like this gets inside, it’s tough to manage.”