Highland Health COVID-19 outbreak spreads to 15 more people, causes 4 more deaths
The coronavirus outbreak at Highland Heath and Rehabilitation skilled nursing facility in Bellingham has spread to 54 people and resulted in 10 deaths, the Whatcom County Health Department said Friday, Oct. 9.
To date, 37 Highland residents and 17 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a health department release. Ten residents have died during the outbreak, which began in mid-September and was first revealed Sept. 29. The new numbers mean the outbreak has seen 15 more people test positive and four additional deaths.
“Highland has worked closely with the WCHD [Whatcom County Health Department] to test and monitor staff and residents, isolate affected staff and residents, and quarantine anyone who was exposed,” the release read. “The WCHD staff and the Washington State Department of Health have recommended additional infection prevention protocols, such as cohorting residents to reduce further transmission risk.”
All of the 10 residents who died were over the age of 70, according to the release, while four were in their 90s and two were over 100.
In its initial release about the outbreak on Sept. 29, the health department reminded other Whatcom County residents to remain vigilant with social distancing and wearing face coverings to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect those most vulnerable to the disease.
“Until there’s a vaccine,” Whatcom County Health Department Communicable Disease and Epidemiology Manager Cindy Hollinsworth said in the release, “wear your mask, wash your hands, watch your distance, and limit your gatherings. Those are the best things we can do.”
The outbreak at Highland is the second large outbreak at a Bellingham nursing facility during the pandemic. The health department reported an outbreak at Shuksan Healthcare on March 22. That outbreak resulted in 54 coronavirus cases — 31 residents and 23 employees — and 10 resident deaths.
The Good Samaritan Society-Stafholt nursing home in Blaine had 13 cases, including 11 residents in late March, while Lynden Manor had 14 residents test positive and two die.
“In these facilities, it’s really hard to contain,” Whatcom County Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach told the Whatcom County Council at a Sept. 29 meeting.
