16 more residents, employees from Godfrey’s Beverly Farm test positive for COVID-19
The coronavirus has spread to 16 more people at Godfrey’s Beverly Farm, a residential facility for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, officials said Tuesday.
Among the 16 people are 11 Beverly Farm residents and five employees, the organization stated in a news release. They all tested positive for COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Beverly Farm stated that the residents and employees lived or worked in the same group home on its campus.
State and local health officials have been monitoring long-term care facilities in part because the virus is more likely to spread when people are in close contact like residents at nursing homes and group homes can be. Residents from nursing homes in particular also tend to have existing medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to severe illness or death from COVID-19.
Beverly Farm Executive Director John Huelskamp said a total of 14 residents and 12 employees were tested after a resident from a group home tested positive for COVID-19 at a hospital. Beverly Farm sent the resident to the hospital July 8 when he showed respiratory symptoms, according to the release.
The resident was still hospitalized Tuesday, and the other 10 positive residents were isolated at Beverly Farm, the release stated.
In June, another 19 people had tested positive for COVID-19, including 12 residents. The latest test results bring Beverly Farm to a total of 35 positives since the coronavirus pandemic began. Almost 400 people live at Beverly Farm, according to the release.
“The initial COVID-19 cases that occurred on our campus in June were relatively mild and those individuals recovered quickly,” Beverly Farm stated Tuesday. “Join us in praying for speedy and full recoveries for those who are currently ill with the virus.”
The organization stated that it is performing daily health screenings for all residents and staff.
“This is a difficult virus to track with so many of those infected asymptomatic but capable of spreading the disease,” the release stated. “... We have various contingency plans in place for whatever comes our way.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 12:40 PM.
