Press release
As the number of COVID-19 positive cases are confirmed and growing in both Genesee and Orleans Counties we all need to continue to take measures to help prevent infections and spreading the disease to others, especially our most vulnerable citizens, our older adults and those with underlying health issues.
“We are aware and have been proactively responding to the number of positive cases being generated from The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehab Center,” stated Paul Pettit, Director of the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.
“We are working with The Villages of Orleans along with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to assist them in containing and stopping the spread of the virus among residents and employees.”
The Orleans County Health Department, Emergency Management staff and NYSDOH have worked cooperatively to provide guidance to the nursing home leadership to provide swabs for testing the residents, accessing personal protective equipment (PPE), and to provide instruction on isolation/quarantine for the residents as well as selfmonitoring the employees’ health prior to reporting for duty.
“We appreciate the extent of the work and the support that Dr. Madejski, the Medical Director for The Villages of Orleans, Paul Pettit, and our Health Department are doing to support the nursing home. We will commit resources as necessary to combat this situation and help to keep our neighbors, friends, families and co-workers healthy,” said Lynne Johnson, Chairman, Orleans County Legislator.
“We were also saddened to learn of a third COVID-19 related death for one of our Orleans County residents. Our condolences to the family and friends of this individual.”
In the event of a resident being exposed or infected with COVID-19 the New York State Department of Health has jurisdictional oversight of nursing homes and will follow-up with contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.
NYSDOH will work with the agency and contact the local health department with information about the employees (from the county where they reside) who may have been exposed. The local health department will then provide followup on those who live in their respective counties while the state deals with the facility.
As of today, in the Villages of Orleans, there have been 89 residents swabbed (some were swabbed twice due to change of symptoms), 27 confirmed cases and 3 deaths related to COVID-19.
Any questions and concerns should be addressed first to the nursing home. If you have further concerns, you can call the appropriate Complaint Hotline:
For Nursing Homes: 1-888-201-4563. Or visit the NYS Consumer Health Care Information website: https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/consumer_information/
In an effort to provide additional information on state and federally regulated facilities in both Genesee and Orleans Counties, the health department will be adding some additional layers to our mapping tool that will break out community versus (non-county regulated) facility spread cases.
In addition, we will be adding a chart to our websites and daily briefings that will detail the number of cases and deaths in the regulated facilities in our counties.