PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Editor's Note: The photo above is from the first outbreak at a nursing home in the Tampa Bay area. That one was at Freedom Square Nursing Home in Seminole. Read more about that case here.
Just days after Florida Health finally released data on COVID-19 deaths at long-term care facilities, a second nursing home in Pinellas County reported an outbreak of coronavirus.
St. Mark Village in Palm Harbor confirmed there are 13 cases in the Skilled Nursing Care Center. April 10 was when the first case popped up and so far, seven people have been taken to a local hospital.
RELATED: Florida Health, for the first time, releases data on COVID-19 deaths at long-term care facilities
Administrator Doug Fresh said the health department is at the facility now, assisting with care.
St. Mark Village posted the following statement on its website and Facebook page:
"Governor DeSantis announced that he has directed Surgeon General Rivkees to begin releasing the names of long-term care facilities in Florida with positive COVID-19 cases. In order to effectively respond to potential COVID-19 cases, St. Mark Village began strategizing weeks ago. Our twenty-bed Rehab has become our COVID-19 care and isolation unit, completely separated from all other Care Units and our Independent Living Center. Our first case was reported on April 10th, 2020. Plans and procedures were then implemented. Our current cases are being isolated and carefully and compassionately cared for in our Skilled Nursing Rehab Unit. No other cases in any other level of care, including our Assisted Living, Memory Care, Highland Lakes Assisted, or our Independent Living Center at St. Mark Village, have been reported at this time.
For more information regarding the St. Mark Village response to COVID-19, please visit our COVID-19 webpage at: www.StMarkVillage.org/Covid19."
RELATED: 3 more residents test positive for COVID-19 at nursing home evacuated after outbreak, deaths
In Seminole, staff evacuated residents from the Freedom Square facility after three people died from coronavirus. As of Sunday night, the facility said 124 residents and patients have been tested, 39 people are positive for COVID-19, 56 are negative and 29 tests are pending.
When the Florida Department of Health released figures last week, the department said 60 residents and staff at long-term care facilities across Pinellas County had tested positive. It's the largest cluster of coronavirus within senior facilities in the Tampa Bay area.
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