GREENSBORO, N.C. — A Burlington nursing home is celebrating a victory - they’re coronavirus free.
For months, White Oak Manor had the largest outbreak in the Triad.
But just as the state celebrates one victory, North Carolina health officials report Blumenthal Nursing and Rehabilitation in Greensboro is seeing its first cases.
87-year-old Tommy Hipp became a resident at Blumenthal just before the pandemic hit.
Jimmy Hipp, Tommy’s son said he's only seen his father through a glass window at the facility.
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“Everyone that goes in, they're supposedly checking all the employees and their temperatures and making them wear a mask,” Hipp said. “But it's been difficult not being able to get in to see him.”
Health experts say older adults have the highest risk for severe illness and death from coronavirus.
Hipp said he was scared when Blumenthal notified him last week they had their first resident test positive.
“They assured me there was only one case there, and now I'm hearing there's three,” Hipp said. “It's a rather large facility but with breathing and all it can spread really fast.”
The Department of Health and Human Services reports two staff members and one resident have tested positive.
“It's a scary thing to know,” Hipp said. “Coronavirus is a scary thing.”
Hipp said Blumenthal reassured him the one resident with the virus is being quarantined at a separate facility and that all residents are being tested.
Containing the spread of the virus is a difficult task for nursing and rehab facilities.
White Oak Manor had the largest outbreak in the Triad and second highest in the state, with 134 total cases and 31 deaths.
However, the facility is celebrating, because they've now gone 28-straight days without a positive test result.
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