New COVID-19 outbreak at Woodland residential care facilities leaves 1 dead, 10 infected
A newly reported COVID-19 outbreak at residential care facilities for people with developmental disabilities in Yolo County has left 10 people infected and one dead.
Six residents and four staff members have been infected with the coronavirus in connection with Woodland Residential Services, according to new public health data released by the county Wednesday evening. One of those residents was killed by the virus, Yolo County’s public health department said in a statement Thursday morning.
Woodland Residential Services, founded in 2002 and headquartered at 1250 Harter Ave., provides assistance and intermittent medical care to residents at seven different homes, according to the company’s website. Each of the company’s homes has a capacity of six residents, state records show.
“Clients participate, to the extent they are able, in every aspect of their lives,” the website states. “They help cook their own food, wash their own dishes, fold their own clothes and make their own bed. They brush their own hair and teeth and feed themselves.”
The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It’s unclear which homes overseen by the company have been affected by the outbreak, or how the virus spread through the facilities.
Yolo County has been host to the deadliest nursing home outbreak in Northern California, and among the worst COVID-19 clusters in the state.
Seventeen people, including a certified nursing assistant who worked there for nearly 20 years, have died after becoming infected with the virus at Stollwood Convalescent Hospital, a small nursing home amid the 14-acre campus of St. John’s Retirement Village in Woodland.
Public health officials have tried to prioritize longterm care facilities in efforts to curtail the virus spread, as many who reside at such locations are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19’s worst symptoms. In California, about 2,700 nursing home residents have died — roughly 40 percent of the state’s coronavirus death toll.
Earlier this month, Yolo County reported another outbreak, at Alderson Convalescent Hospital, where 17 people have now been infected.
Across six different Yolo County longterm care facilities, 106 people have been infected by the coronavirus. About half of those infections are among staff members, rather than residents.
Coronavirus cases tied to longterm care facilities account for about 1 in 10 cases in Yolo County, where 1,023 people have been infected and 30 have died.
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 9:06 AM.