Days after the first COVID-19 cases were reported at a Summerville, Georgia, nursing home, the state is reporting the first resident at the facility has died.
The fatality occurred at Oakview Health and Rehabilitation. On Tuesday, the facility reported 34 residents had tested positive. That number has nearly doubled to 58 at a facility with 117 residents. The state is reporting 157 coronavirus tests have been administered.
As of Friday afternoon, 27 staff members have also tested positive.
Before the outbreak at Oakview Health and Rehab, Chattooga County has largely avoided nursing home outbreaks, while surrounding counties in Northwest Georgia have suffered. With the new cases, the county itself set a record for cases in a day with 41 on Tuesday. Chattooga County now has reported 522 cases, 149 of those in the last two weeks. Five people in the county have died from the coronavirus.
In Whitfield County, seven residents died and a total of 47 residents and 25 staff members at Ridgewood Manor tested positive in July.
Across the county line, 80 residents at PruittHealth in Fort Oglethorpe have tested positive for COVID-19, and 10 people have died. Of the 80, 69 have recovered.
Ten residents died at the NHC nursing home in Rossville after 60 residents tested positive. Another 10 residents died at the PruittHealth nursing home in Fort Oglethorpe.
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.