TONASKET, Wash. — Twelve residents have died in relation to a coronavirus outbreak at a Okanogan County long-term care facility, according to Okanogan County Public Health.
The agency first reported on Monday through its Facebook page that 11 residents had died in relation to an outbreak at North Valley Extended Care in Tonasket, and a total of 32 residents had tested positive.
On Tuesday, OCPH confirmed a 12th death. According to KREM's Taylor Viydo, the health district called the situation sad and unfortunate, but said the care home had been proactive in trying to prevent COVID from entering the facility.
"This has just been devastating. Obviously really hard on the care team and all of the families," North Valley Hospital CEO John McReynolds said.
McReynolds said the first positive test came back on Nov. 15 via weekly surveillance testing.
Two employees at the facility are hospitalized with COVID-19 and "multiple caregivers are under quarantine until the CDC guidelines allow them to return to work," according to OCPH. The hospitalized employees are "doing well," the release said.
Between the nursing home and Tonasket's small connected hospital next door, 20 employees have tested positive.
"That reality of right when they're needed the most, you start losing people and them not being able to work," McReynolds said.
The 12 deaths raises Okanogan County's total COVID-19 related deaths to 27, according to OCPH.
Okanogan County Public Health said North Valley had been doing a good job following COVID-19 safety measures.
"We've been really proud of our results and proud of the protocols that we had in place to protect everybody, but it just takes one," McReynolds said. "And this is really, very painfully evident how damaging the virus can be among this population group."
At this point, it's not clear how the virus arrived but leaders say there's a good chance an employee brought COVID into the care facility.
Long-term care facilities are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in Washington state. Despite being linked to just 6 percent of cases, they make up more than 50 percent of the state's COVID-19 deaths.