ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Catholic Health announced Monday that 66 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 at Father Baker Manor in Orchard Park.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz made that announcement during a briefing Sunday afternoon, calling it a "cluster of cases."
Catholic Health officials say they got confirmation of positive cases on Friday involving patients and residents at Father Baker Manor home. They were able to get the test results back quickly after receiving more than 900 rapid test kits.
Poloncarz said the state health department was informed and that all residents and staffers have been tested.
Officials say two residents, who had fevers, tested positive. Health officials tested the whole unit. Nineteen out of 20 people tested positive in that unit. In total, 41 out of 138 residents have tested positive. Twenty five of 212 associates tested positive. Most people said they felt fine.
Catholic Health says they have created an isolation unit for all positive patients.
The facility on Powers Road in Orchard Park is for both subacute rehabilitation and long-term care for the elderly who are deemed most at risk.
Mollie Poblocki's 94-year-old grandma, Ruth McCann, has lived at Father Baker Manor for seven years. Poblocki said her family became nervous as they heard about COVID-19 cases in the facility.
"Obviously this is a very scary time. We started out with hearing that there were three cases, then 24 hours later there were 17," she said.
McCann was tested for COVID-19 late last week. Her family found out Saturday that the test came back negative.
Poblocki said the facility and Catholic Health have kept them informed with updated information.
On Saturday, spokesperson JoAnn Cavanaugh said patients were tested by Catholic Health using a limited supply of testing materials.
Catholic Health officials said last week that they hope to soon have online the newly approved Cepheid testing system that can produce results of COVID-19 within 45 minutes. But they cannot confirm if it was used for these cases at Father Baker Manor.
Cavanaugh says doctors, nurses, and other staffers on the infection control team are working round the clock to stop the spread pf the virus and following all guidelines, such as restriction of visitors, daily health screenings, elimination of group activities and rehab, and constant monitoring of patients and residents.
On Sunday, she said more information would be available on Monday.
Cavanaugh also said that the families of all the residents at Father Baker Manor have been informed of the situation.