Deaths of staff, residents in SC nursing homes, care facilities rise to 69, DHEC says

Sixty-nine patients and staff at 72 of South Carolina’s nursing homes and care facilities have died from the COVID-19 virus, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported Friday.

Those care facility deaths are approximately 27% of all 256 South Carolina deaths known to have been caused by COVID-19.

Earlier in the week, the number of dead in care facilities was 44 in 62 facilities.

The new tally was contained on a data sheet published twice a week, including Friday, by DHEC about deaths in long term care facilities. DHEC did not give a breakdown as to how many of the 69 care facility deaths were staff and how many were residents.

Coronavirus deaths in nursing homes and care facilities have attracted national and statewide attention because the numbers of such deaths linked to those facilities are unduly high. Care facilities are populated by those who are especially vulnerable to the disease — those over 60, who generally have weakened immune systems and may be in frail health, and those with underlying health conditions such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.

More than 10,000 of the nation’s then 46,000 coronavirus deaths are estimated to have been nursing home and care facility patients, The Wall Street Journal reported on April 23. Since then, with the nation’s coronavirus death toll now standing at more than 63,000, the death toll of care facility residents is likely to have risen.

Almost a quarter of the people in South Carolina who have died from the coronavirus were patients or employees at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state.

Some of the people counted as nursing home deaths could have died in a hospital, DHEC has said.

The highest number of deaths since April 3 were among people who lived or worked in Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Center in Hanahan, which had 87 cases and nine deaths. Greer Rehabilitation and Health Center in Greer also had nine deaths out of that facility’s 50 cases.

The 88-bed Midlands Health and Rehabilitation Center in Columbia had eight deaths and 81 confirmed COVID-19 cases, DHEC reported.

Lexington Medical Center Extended Care has had three deaths, out of its 17 cases, according to DHEC.

On March 13, Gov. Henry McMaster stopped visitation to long-term care facilities to help protect the vulnerable population who tend to live in these types of facilities.

“DHEC prioritizes the identification of COVID-19 infections in congregate settings like nursing homes, assisted living facilities and extended care facilities because the spread of respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 is common in these types of facilities, and the residents who live there are at high risk for developing complications or death from COVID-19 infection,” the agency said.

DHEC has begun testing all care facility residents and staff to see who might have been infected with the COVID-19 virus. It can take up to 14 days for symptoms to manifest. Many of those who are infected may not show many symptoms and recover, but they still can spread the virus.

COVID-19 attacks the lungs and can also damage the heart, kidneys and brains. It is easily spread through drops or tiny particles in people’s breaths, coughs or sneezes, as well as by touch. As of Tuesday, more than 57,000 Americans have died of the disease since early February.

Here are some of the 72 SC care facilities DHEC has reported, along with their COVID-19 cases and deaths:

▪ Carlyle Senior Care of Florence: 53 cases and three deaths.

▪ Carlyle Senior Care of Kingstree: 26 cases and no deaths.

▪ Greenville Post Acute: 45 cases and 8 deaths.

▪ Greer Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Greer: 50 cases and 9 deaths.

▪ Heartland Health and Rehabilitation Center in Hanahan: 87 cases and 9 deaths.

▪ Lake Marion Nursing Center in Summerton: 29 cases and 5 deaths.

▪ Midlands Health and Rehabilitation in Columbia: 81 cases and 8 deaths.

▪ Pruitt Health in Blythewood: 50 cases, no deaths.

▪ Windsor Manor Nursing Home in Manning: 37 cases and 5 deaths.

▪ Lexington Medical Center: 17 cases and 3 deaths.

Editor’s note: In the original version of this story, the numbers of deaths and cases for three individual nursing homes in the body of the story were outdated and lower than the new totals DHEC reported Friday. All numbers have now been updated and reflect DHEC’s most recent information.

This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 6:44 PM.