7 Coronavirus Cases Confirmed At Florida Elderly Care Facility

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Two elderly residents who died days apart at the same Florida long-term care facility tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said another five residents also tested positive.

"What the investigation has found out is that construction workers, staff and cooks who were ill, were not screened and were allowed to go work their jobs and mix with the residents unimpeded," DeSantis told reporters Friday. "That is exactly what you are not supposed to do."

Another six tests were still pending from the Atria Willow Wood assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, the governor said. Law enforcement officers and first responders from multiple agencies could be seen Friday outside the facility.

"If you are an operator of one of these facilities you need to take responsibility to protect your residents," the governor said.

Five of the seven cases at Atria Willow Wood were among residents from the assisted living side of the facility while the other two cases were from the independent living side. Atria Willow Wood has 96 assisted living residents and 123 independent living residents.

"This is a virus that is in certain communities, spreading in Florida — and Broward is one of them," the governor said. "You need to take action to protect your people."

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Scott A. Rivkees said state officials asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to embed an infection control specialist at the facility. Florida state regulatory officials have already been embedded there.

Rivkees said all residents of such facilities are checked for fevers when state officials are called to facilities like Atria Willow Wood for a suspected COVID-19 outbreak. "We made sure that these individuals were well, made sure that they were isolated, made sure that the facility had proper decontamination and cleaning protocols," he said.

In Kirkland, Washington, 35 coronavirus deaths have been linked to Life Care Center. The CDC said staff members who worked while sick at multiple long-term care facilities contributed to the spread of COVID-19 among the elderly in the Seattle area, according to the Associated Press.

"If we found a resident who was actually ill, we would make sure that person would have medical attention," Rivkees said in the case of Florida. "I can’t emphasize enough that we have to keep COVID out of these facilities. We have to make sure that workers going in there are screened. We need to make sure the contractors going in there are screened."