Coronavirus deaths keep rising at Triangle nursing homes, assisted living facilities

Five residents at Brookridge Assisted Living in Apex have tested positive for the coronavirus, data released Friday afternoon by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services shows. None of the residents have died.

The outbreak at the 55-bed facility was first disclosed by Wake County on Thursday. It is the 15th outbreak at a nursing home or assisted-living facility in the Triangle. The state health department considers 13 of those ongoing.

Long-term care facilities have been epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and elsewhere. Residents’ chronic health conditions and close living conditions put them at risk of contracting the virus and experiencing severe symptoms.

In North Carolina, 3,924 residents of those facilities have tested positive for COVID-19, and 530 have died. Residents in long-term care facilities make up 62% of the state’s deaths attributed to the coronavirus.

Deaths have recently ticked up at some Triangle area facilities with outbreaks.

Twenty-one residents of Treyburn Rehabilitation Center in Durham have died, up from 19 on Tuesday, when the state last released data on congregate living settings. The data is released twice a week — Tuesday and Friday. Ninety-five residents and 24 members of the staff have caught the virus.

Twenty residents of Signature HealthCARE in Chapel Hill have died, up from 17 on Tuesday. Sixty-three residents and 21 staff members have tested positive.

Seventeen residents of Durham Nursing & Rehabilitation Center have died, up from 15 on Tuesday. Seventy-nine residents and 32 staff members have tested positive.

Five other Triangle facilities have had dozens of residents test positive for the virus.

At PruittHealth - Carolina Point near the Orange-Durham county line, 87 residents and 25 staff members have tested positive. Twenty residents have died.

At Wellington Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Knightdale, 40 residents and 41 staff members have tested positive. Thirteen residents have died.

At Sunnybrook Rehabilitation Center in Raleigh, 34 residents and 14 staff members have tested positive. Six residents have died.

At UNC Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center of Apex, 25 residents and 13 staff members have tested positive. Three residents have died.

At Carver Living Center in Durham, 26 residents and 11 staff members have tested positive. One resident has died.

This story was originally published May 30, 2020 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Coronavirus deaths keep rising at Triangle nursing homes, assisted living facilities."