Facility is in North Cape May
By JACK FICHTER/Sentinel staff
NORTH CAPE MAY – As the number of COVID-19 cases increased to 99 this week in Cape May County, the Health Department confirmed Monday, April 6, that 15 residents and 11 staff members at Victoria Manor in North Cape May tested positive for the coronavirus.
No deaths have been reported in connection with the outbreak as of Monday morning at the Genesis healthcare facility located at 3809 Bayshore Road.
“Public health has been preparing for the possibility of outbreaks happening in skilled nursing facilities and other congregate care settings and we have provided clear guidance for facilities in responding and controlling the spread of illness,” said Cape May County Assistant Director of Public Health Nursing Mary Tighe in a press release issued Monday night. “We in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Health are working closely with the facilities now to protect residents and staff.”
The county Health Department reported that it began investigating as soon as it learned of ill staff and residents within the facility and began testing. In response to these positive tests, the health department said it assisted in delivering 400 surgical masks and 200 gowns.
The Staff and residents who do not have serious symptoms are monitored, medically isolated but not hospitalized. Victoria Manor is a skilled nursing facility with 120 beds.
“The situation is very serious, and we are deeply concerned about residents of our senior care facilities in Cape May County,” said County Health Officer Kevin Thomas. “That is why we need everyone to follow the stay-at-home order, social distancing guidance and other measures in recent health orders – to protect the people in our community who are vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19.”
In addition, there has been one confirmed death in Cape May County and more than 99 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, the Health Department reported. The one death is of a 72-year-old woman in Upper Township. Another reported death was of a north Jersey resident who was visiting family in Ocean City, but that fatality may be listed in another area because the person wasn’t a resident of the county.
