Health officials say more than a dozen positive COVID-19 cases are linked to a nursing home in Coffey County.
The Life Care Center of Burlington is at the center of the outbreak.
The Coffey Co. Health Dept. says six new positive tests came in Monday, including a 39-year-old woman. The other cases are in people ages 77 to 90.
The first eight cases linked to the facility came in last week, with patients ranging in age from 20 to 90.
“We know that the containment of this infection is very difficult in care facilities,” Coffey Co. Health Dept. Administrator Lindsay Payer said.
Lyon Co. Health officials confirm three more cases associated with the facility are in people from Lyon county.
In a statement Monday night to the Kansas City Star, the nursing home’s director said they have at least 18 cases, involving 11 residents and seven workers. She said the workers are recovering at home.
It is not known in which county the person with the additional case resides.
Life Care Center is owned by the same company that owns a Wyandotte Co. facility where a resident died from COVID-19, and a Seattle facility that saw several deaths from coronavirus.
Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman says it is a large company, but health officials have looked into the connection.
“I know at the (facility) in Wyandotte County we didn’t find anything and we didn’t have any other test come back positive on anybody (from that facility), and we didn’t find anything that would point to any particular problem with their standard operating procedures,” Dr. Norman said. “It does make you wonder and we will help them sort through if there’s any sharing of staff or anything like that that would raise a red flag.”
Payer said the Coffey Co. Health Dept. is working to identify close contacts of the positive cases. She said the facility is cooperating in efforts to slow the spread of the virus.