4 more covid-19 cases reported at Westmoreland Manor

Initial coronavirus testing has been completed at Westmoreland Manor and officials said Wednesday that one additional resident and three more staffers have been infected with covid-19.

Those latest results indicate that since the weekend a total of 33 residents and six employees have been diagnosed with the virus at the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield. The Manor is home to 366 residents and employs more than 400, including nurses, support staff and administrators.

“We’re following the state guidelines and doing everything we can,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes.

Commissioners last week hired Excela Health to perform testing at the Manor, a move that commissioners then said was mandated under new federal requirements. Results from those tests started to filter in on Monday when county officials reported 20 residents, one staffer and a private nurse assigned to the Manor had tested positive. Twelve additional residents and another staffer were identified Tuesday as being infected with the virus.

Until this weekend the Manor had no residents who tested positive for coronavirus since the onset of the pandemic in March. A handful of staffers in the spring and summer had tested positive but officials said none had any contact with residents.

Prior to the current outbreak the last staffer to test positive was in July.

As a result, the nursing home last week restarted in-person visits with residents in a covered area outside and adjacent to the Manor. Those visits were halted on Monday when news of the outbreak was released.

Manor residents infected with covid-19 were initially moved to three of the nursing home’s nine units but starting Wednesday they will be isolated in one area of the facility, county solicitor Melissa Guiddy said. Staff who tested positive have been removed from the nursing home to recover.

Officials said testing of all residents and staff will continue until no positive cases are reported at the Manor for two weeks.