UPDATE 3/19 7:35 p.m.
Nine additional residents of Koester Pavilion in Miami County are presumptive positives for COVID-19, according to Miami County Public Health.
RELATED: Kettering Health Network confirms its first COVID-19 case
This makes 11 residents now presumptive positives. Two residents had already tested positive Wednesday.
Additionally, three residents and two staff from the assisted living center are hospitalized at Upper Valley Medical Center. Test results for those patients are pending, according to Miami County Public Health.
Five additional staff have been tested, and results are pending.
Results should be available in 24-48 hours.
UPDATE 3/19 @ 3:17 p.m.
There are currently no test results or updates for the COVID-19 patients and staff at Koester Pavillion in Troy, Miami County Public Health said in a written statement.
INITIAL REPORT 3/18 @ 2:05 p.m.
The confirmation Wednesday that 19 people from the Koester Pavilion Assisted Living Facility in Troy had to be investigated for the coronavirus -- and that two residents have tested positive -- represented the worst fears for health department officials in Miami and Clark counties.
According to the Ohio Health Care Association, the Troy cases are the first in an Ohio long-term care facility.
“This is an example of how quickly the virus can spread from person to person,” Charles Patterson, Clark County health commissioner, told News Center 7’s Sean Cudahy. “This is obviously a community transmission case and has health care and long term care involved, all the things of course that we fear.”
Nineteen people have been investigated for the coronavirus at Koester Pavilion Assisted Living Facility in Troy.
"OHCA is working with our more than 1,000 members to ensure all proper steps are taken to fight the spread of coronavirus in skilled nursing centers, assisted living communities, and agencies serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities or delivering home care or hospice services,” said Ohio Health Care Association Executive Director Peter Van Runkle.
The numbers break out this way: 12 residents, including one confirmed case and one presumed positive case 6 staff members 1 visitor
- Five of those individuals, including the man in the Dayton VA Medical Center, have been admitted to hospitals
- Eight of those individuals are awaiting results of tests, which should be available in 24 to 48 hours.
- The confirmed case is a 70-year-old male from Bethel Twp. (Clark County) who had been a resident in the Koester Pavilion Assisted Living Facility in Troy. He has since been admitted to the Dayton VA Medical Center.
- The presumed positive case is a resident of the same assisted living facility, a 62-year-old female. She is now at Upper Valley Medical Center.
Late Wednesday night, Premier Health issued the following statement on the Koester Pavilion situation:
“During the first part of March, Koester Pavilion, a skilled nursing facility owned by Upper Valley Medical Center and located on the hospital campus, took several proactive steps to protect residents during the earliest stages of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States. These precautions were taken in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Ohio Department of Health guidelines to protect the health and safety of residents while respecting their rights.
“Visitor restrictions were proactively implemented on March 6, which culminated with total restrictions the evening of March 12. All group activities for residents were halted. Days prior to our being notified of presumptive positive COVID-19 test results for a former resident and a current resident, we started placing any resident exhibiting symptoms in preventive isolation. There are other suspected cases at Koester Pavilion, and we continue to isolate and quarantine residents while ensuring that they are able to communicate with family members and friends through Facetime and phone calls.
“Our clinical and support teams have trained extensively for this eventuality and are well-prepared to treat patients with COVID-19 while ensuring the safety of all patients and staff.”
RELATED: Coronavirus live updates
The Koester Pavilion situation has angered Amy Litko, an Atlanta resident whose father lives in the facility. She learned about the COVID-19 issue through a phone call from family in the Miami Valley.
“It’s horrible,” she said by phone Wednesday night. “It’s absolutely devastating just knowing that these people... they’re so vulnerable and this is what they’re going through.”
Litko said her sister, who works in a Dayton-area hospital, now is self-quarantined after she visited their father at the facility. He has dementia.
Litko said she plans to drive to Troy on Thursday.
“My whole plan -- and I dare anybody to tell me to move -- I’m taking a chair and I’m going to sit right outside his window and we can talk on the phone,” she said.
Officials with the Dayton VA Medical Center said staff who may have been in close contact with the 70-year-old male from Bethel Twp. are being interviewed by infection control experts and will be contacted to review risk and next steps.
“Because proper procedures were followed, the risk of transmission to other patients and staff remains low,” the Dayton VA said.
“The Veteran is being cared for in respiratory isolation by staff who are specially trained on the Centers for Disease Control treatment guidelines, including the use of personal protective equipment and infection control techniques.”
The Dayton VA Medical Center and Community Based Outpatient Clinics are screening all veterans, visitors and staff prior to entering the campus or facilities.
Miami County, Clark County and the Ohio Department of Health are working with Koester Pavilion Assisted Living Facility to identify and contact anyone who may have come into contact with the confirmed cases.
