More than\u00a050 residents of a Massachusetts nursing home have died from the novel coronavirus, the latest of a series of outbreaks in such facilities.<\/p>\n

In addition to the deaths, 117 residents and 42 staffers at the Courtyard Nursing Care Center in Medford have tested positive for the virus, operator Genesis Healthcare told<\/a>\u00a0The Washington Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe care for largely frail, elderly seniors with multiple health conditions who are already more susceptible to the common cold, not to mention a deadly and highly contagious virus like this one,\u201d Chief Medical Officer Richard Feifer said, adding that the average age of the residents who died was 85.<\/p>\n

Feifer told the\u00a0newspaper that the facility has abided by federal and state infection-control protocols and in some cases\u00a0has gone\u00a0above and beyond. The facility screens patients and residents for symptoms three times a day and takes staffers\u2019 temperatures when they enter the building, he said. Facility employees have also been wearing full protective equipment for over a month and visits are mostly restricted to end-of-life situations, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing everything in our power \u2014 and everything medical experts know as of at this time \u2014 to protect our patients, residents and employees,\u201d Feifer said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n

A Washington Post analysis of nursing facilities found that more than 1 in 6 nationwide have reported cases of the virus among residents and staff, with thousands believed to have died so far. More than 2,700 Medicare-certified nursing homes have reported at least one case, according to the newspaper\u2019s analysis.<\/p>\n

However, the data is incomplete, as some states have yet to release\u00a0complete\u00a0information on nursing home outbreaks. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a mandate in April for reporting such data to families and patients, but did not include a timeline.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said\u00a0late last month that the state will spend up to $130 million on nursing facilities in the next two months, with the funding going toward staffing costs, infection control and protective gear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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More than\u00a050 residents of a Massachusetts nursing home have died from the novel coronavirus, the latest of a series of outbreaks in such facilities.In addition to the deaths, 117 residents and 42 staffers at the Courtyard Nursing Care Center in Medford have tested positive for the virus, operator Genesis Healthcare told\u00a0The Washington Post.\u201cWe care for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[5,198],"class_list":{"0":"post-26664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-coronavirus","9":"tag-positive"},"yoast_head":"\n