New virus cases reported at Warrenton care home

Published 3:15 pm Thursday, February 17, 2022

The Oregon Health Authority has reported nine coronavirus cases at Clatsop Care Memory Community, a care home in Warrenton.

The outbreak, first reported on Jan. 28, was disclosed on Wednesday in the health authority’s weekly report.

The care home, part of the Clatsop Care Health District, has no active virus cases, Hannah Olson, the facility’s administrator, said on Thursday.

Olson said the outbreak peaked at 10 virus cases and was entirely among staff. She said no one was hospitalized as a result.

“Everyone’s doing well, and everyone is healthy, and it was pretty mild,” Olson said. “It was much better than this last time.”

Last summer, Clatsop Care Memory Community, which houses residents with dementia, experienced an outbreak of 37 virus cases among residents and staff. Five residents died.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned early in the pandemic that care homes — where residents, who often have age-related health issues, gather in close quarters — were especially susceptible to COVID-19 outbreaks that could lead to severe illness or death.

Clarissa Barrick, the administrator at Clatsop Care Health & Rehabilitation, another facility under the health district umbrella, said that, at this stage in the pandemic, an outbreak would not necessarily keep residents from seeing their loved ones. “It’s so important, to just daily life, to be able to receive visitors,” she said.

The health authority also disclosed that an outbreak reported at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria in late January now stands at 24 virus cases. The investigation started on Jan. 19.

Nancee Long, the hospital’s communications director, said in an email that the hospital has no new information on the outbreak. “CMH, like most other organizations and hospitals, experienced a surge in COVID cases at the end of January and early February,” she wrote.

Long said that none of Columbia Memorial’s cases associated with the outbreak originated in the hospital, and that all caregivers notified the hospital’s employee health department.

“We are grateful that this surge seems to have passed and we continue to care for the community,” she wrote.

Long urged people to consider getting vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, and to “maintain good hygiene habits as we fight this pandemic together.”

In Seaside, Suzanne Elise Assisted Living Community is listed in the weekly outbreak report as having 12 virus cases — up from an initially reported eight — tied to an outbreak first reported on Jan. 11.

Administrators at Suzanne Elise referred The Astorian to Avamere Heath Services LLC, the facility’s owner-operator based in Wilsonville. Avamere Heath Services could not immediately be reached for comment.

State health officials have said the wave of virus cases related to the omicron variant has crested. Oregon’s indoor mask requirement is slated to end by March 31.

The health authority reported 11 new virus cases for Clatsop County on Thursday and 14 new cases on Wednesday.

Since the pandemic began, the county had recorded 4,448 virus cases as of Thursday.

Marketplace