Miller’s has had pair of deaths

Two residents of a Dunkirk nursing home have died from COVID-19.

A Miller’s Health Systems executive confirmed in an email Thursday that two residents of Miller’s Merry Manor in Dunkirk have recently died from COVID-19.

“Regrettably, since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID has contributed in part to the death of two patients,” Miller’s chief operating officer B.J. DeCola wrote in an email. Miller’s Merry Manor is under the Miller’s Health umbrella.

Five Jay County long-term care facility residents are confirmed to have died from the novel coronavirus. This cannot be corroborated with the Indiana Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, as it doesn’t specify how many have died at a long-term care facility if the number is smaller than five.

According to that dashboard, a total of 21 residents and 24 staff members at Miller’s Merry Manor have tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of November. That’s an increase from the five residents and 12 staff members reported to have tested positive on the Indiana State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard last week.

Jay County Health Department environmentalist and administrator Heath Butz said Miller’s Merry Manor is following “rigorous protocols” to make sure the virus didn’t spread into the facility but, ultimately, as coronavirus cases increase in the community it is bound to spread to the area’s most vulnerable.

A similar outbreak happened in October at Portland’s Persimmon Ridge Rehabilitation Centre, where three residents were confirmed to have died from coronavirus.

DeCola said, as of Saturday, four residents who have tested positive have recovered from the virus and returned to their rooms and are out of the COVID isolation unit at Miller’s Merry Manor.

Indiana National Guard soldiers were deployed to Persimmon Ridge and Miller’s Merry Manor on Nov. 2 and Nov. 16, respectively, according to the Indiana Health Care Association. DeCola did not specify whether the cases happened before or after soldiers arrived.

No other members of Miller’s Health and Dunkirk’s Miller Merry Manor responded to interview requests.

Residents are being tested twice a week for COVID-19, DeCola said.

“It is also important to remember that at times when community cases grow, so does the risk to our employees and ultimately to our patients,” DeCola said. “So as a community — whether we work in a healthcare facility or not — we have to be mindful to remain diligent to protect those most at risk.”

Jay County had 15 new cases of COVID-19 in Thursday’s state report, increasing its cumulative total to 1,297. Nineteen Jay County resident have died from COVID-19, but there were no new deaths reported Thursday.

The county is in its third straight week of being classified by the state as being at severe risk for spreading coronavirus (red on the color-coded scale).

Coronavirus is mainly spread through respiratory droplets or small particles from an infected person coughing, sneezing, talking or breathing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that it may be possible those particles and droplets remain suspended in the air for an unknown period of time and travel beyond 6 feet, especially indoors.

CDC guidelines encourage wearing a mask and avoiding close contact when around others and frequent hand washing and surface cleaning as ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The virus causes a range of symptoms, which can appear two to 14 days after exposure. Older adults and those with pre-existing health problems are susceptible to more severe illnesses.