Deaths reported at Washington veterans home amid COVID-19 outbreak
Another resident of the Washington Veterans Home in Port Orchard died from COVID-19 on Jan. 26, according to a statement from the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs.
This brings the total to two Veterans Home residents who passed from COVID-19 in January.
A second resident died Jan. 6 after testing positive for COVID-19 during facility-wide testing in December.
One staff member at the veterans home also tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total case count at the facility to 18 staff members and 15 residents.
Residents of the Washington Veterans Home will be tested every five to seven days until the facility has gone 14 days without a positive case of the virus, according to a statement released by WSDVA. Residents will also be checked for symptoms every four hours for the next 14 days.
The WSDVA said that staff members at both the Veteran’s Home and Soldiers Home in Orting are tested once per week, as required by state and local authorities.
At the Soldiers Home, 45 residents and 38 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
Both the Soldiers Home and the Veterans Home are operated by the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. The Soldiers Home in Orting houses 128 veterans, and 240 veterans live at the Port Orchard Veterans Home.
All four of the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs facilities have had their first vaccine clinic. More than 500 residents and staff at the Veterans Home have had both the first and second vaccinations. The Veterans Home expects to hold its final vaccine clinic on Feb. 10, for residents and staff who received their first vaccination earlier this month.
During the next two weeks, the Soldiers Home is expected to have its second vaccine clinic, according to a statement from the WDVA.
This story was originally published January 31, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
