Senior care home residents account for 80% of coronavirus deaths in Sonoma County

Residents of senior care homes comprise roughly 80% of Sonoma County residents who have died from coronavirus complications, an alarming statistic that shows how the infectious disease has devastated the area’s most vulnerable population.

With the four latest fatalities county health officials reported Monday and Tuesday, at least 40 of the 51 local residents who have lost their lives to the virus since the pandemic began in March were residents of skilled nursing centers or residential care homes.

“It's devastating to have these vulnerable people affected in this manner, and to the families it’s just awful,” county Health Officer Dr. Sundari Mase said in an interview Tuesday.

They join seniors in nursing homes across the state and country suffering the worst consequences of the contagion, she said.

“We're not alone, this is happening all over,” Mase said. “These are the vulnerable people, and this is the housing congregate settings that are most affected.”

Two of the most recent deaths were nursing home residents. Both were female, over 64 and each had underlying health conditions, local health officials said. One woman died Saturday at an unidentified local hospital and the other died Sunday at the undisclosed nursing home where she lived.

A third death involved a man, who did not live in a senior care facility but also was over 64 with underlying medical problems, health officials said.

Details on a death reported late Tuesday were not immediately available.

Among the county’s senior care homes are 20 skilled nursing centers and 177 residential care facilities for the elderly. Five skilled nursing homes countywide have reported to the state at least one resident has died from complications of COVID-19. They are: EmPres Post Acute and Rehabilitation in Petaluma; Petaluma Post-Acute Rehab; Broadway Villa Post Acute and Sonoma Post Acute, both in Sonoma; and Cloverdale Healthcare Center.

Mase said Tuesday there is some good news for seniors who have recovered from the virus and those who live in some of the local nursing homes hardest hit by deadly transmission of the highly contagious disease. Nursing homes that have had ongoing outbreaks the past month or more, she said, have made progress with infection control.

What’s more, the health officer said none of the seniors in nursing or residential care homes who have been afflicted with the illness and recovered have contracted the coronavirus a second time.

“A good proportion of the residents are recovered,” Mase said. “We don't know that that necessarily provides immunity. ... Once somebody has gotten COVID and is done with their isolation period and is considered recovered, we haven't seen anybody getting COVID again.”

Skilled nursing homes are medical centers licensed by the California Department of Public Health to provide nursing and supportive medical care on an extended basis. They usually have a large senior population.

Residential care facilities, often called assisted living or board and care homes, are nonmedical centers that provide some assistance to residents with basic daily activities. They are licensed by the California Department of Social Services.

That agency’s online list of residential care homes in Sonoma County with space for seven or more people on Tuesday listed only one such site that has reported infections or deaths related to COVID-19: Mirabel Lodge, a Forestville facility that has room for 34 people, according to state data.

The data shows Mirabel Lodge reported 14 residents have been infected there. Alain Serkissian, co-owner and president, did not respond to requests for an interview on Tuesday.

For her part, Mase again Tuesday declined to comment about any viral outbreaks and deaths at specific skilled nursing homes or residential care sites, citing federal privacy rules that protect people’s health care information.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.