This story has been updated after receiving a response from Golden LivingCenters.
GREENFIELD — Golden LivingCenter – Brandywine is reporting 67 of its 99 residents and 17 of its employees have COVID-19 as of Friday, Nov. 20.
“Our Brandywine team has fought tirelessly for over eight months to keep the coronavirus out of our Brandywine LivingCenter,” a Golden LivingCenters – Indiana spokesperson told the Daily Reporter in an email. “We recently confirmed with widespread and frequent testing that this community is experiencing an outbreak.”
Golden LivingCenters updates COVID-19 data for all of its facilities in a table on its website every weekday. According to the table, 70 Brandywine residents were confirmed COVID-19 positive in the past 14 days, one fewer than its cumulative total for the pandemic. Twenty-three residents received a positive COVID-19 test result in the 24 hours prior to the last update on Friday.
No residents had new respiratory symptoms identified in the prior 24 hours, according to the table.
The cumulative total of negative COVID-19 test results among residents at Brandywine throughout the pandemic stands at 157. Two residents have recovered from the novel coronavirus during the pandemic, and one has died.
On Brandywine’s employee side, as of Friday, 24 were confirmed COVID-19 positive within the past 14 days and 11 received a positive COVID-19 test result in the past 24 hours. No employees had new respiratory symptoms in the past 24 hours.
The Golden LivingCenters spokesperson said the Brandywine team is applying strategies that have been helpful in other outbreaks, including cohorting residents who are COVID-19 positive from residents who are negative.
Staff and residents continue to be screened and tested, the message stated, adding Brandywine has had the onsite support of the Indiana National Guard since last Monday.
Staff follows state and federal COVID-19 guidelines, as they have throughout the pandemic, the message also stated.
“Our staff continue to demonstrate incredible compassion and focus because they truly care for our residents,” the spokesperson said. “We are humbled by the support and patience that we have received from our community and families. There are many uncertain and unpredictable factors related to the virus, but we remain committed to serving the health and safety of our residents and staff.”
Hancock County reported 87 new COVID-19 cases Saturday — a new daily record — raising the county’s total to 2,349. No new deaths were added, keeping that total at 49. Another 640 tests administered brought that total to 40,113. A total of 24,300 individuals have been tested in the county.
The county’s seven-day (Nov. 8-14) positivity rate for all tests dropped to 9.1%, while the cumulative rate stayed at 5.5%. The seven-day positivity rate for unique individuals dropped to 16.1%, while the cumulative rate rose slightly to 9.7%.
Indiana added 6,983 cases Friday, raising the total to 289,183. The state’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 4,992 after 40 more fatalities were recorded from between March 15 and Nov. 20.
