Magnolia Manor: Five consecutive weeks with no new resident COVID-19 cases

AMERICUS – Magnolia Manor President and CEO Mark R. Todd reported that for the fifth consecutive week, there have been no new resident COVID-19 cases at the company’s Americus Nursing Center.

“We only have two residents in our special COVID-19 unit at the Nursing Center, and none are in the hospital,” Todd said. “This is a huge victory, and we’re all celebrating and breathing a collective sigh of relief. Of course, it may turn out to be a temporary victory since cases in the community are rising again, but we’re celebrating while we can.”

Thirty-four Nursing Center residents have recovered, and eight have passed away. Twenty-eight employees also tested positive but have since recovered, but there is now one new case.

“We will continue to test residents and employees until the threat no longer exists,” Todd said. “As we said previously, the largest determinant of whether we are likely to see new cases is how widespread the virus is in the community.”

“It concerns us that new cases continue to appear in the general public in all nine counties where we have campuses,” Chief Operating Officer Hill Fort said. “Everyone must continue to use precautions to help stop the spread and keep the virus out of our facilities. Right now, our three hot spots are Bibb, Glynn and Muscogee counties. Only Marion and Sumter counties have less than a 15% increase in the past seven days. The other four counties have seen more than 20% increases.”

Todd and Fort affirmed that it is still too soon to set a date for re-opening any facilities, especially since there appears to be a new surge in county cases across the state.

The Columbus East campus has seen 40 cases since the outbreak. Thirty-two residents are receiving care in-house. Unfortunately, the resident reported as hospitalized last week has died, bringing the total deaths to eight. Fifteen employees have tested positive — two new ones this week. So far, no infected residents have been able to test negative, so there are no recoveries to report.

At Columbus West, there are no known positive residents, but four employees previously tested positive. At the Columbus Assisted Living program, one contract employee previously tested positive. There have been no new cases this week.

Magnolia Manor’s Marion County campus has reported no new resident cases in the past week. Fourteen are receiving care in-house, and one is in the hospital. Two have recovered, and two have passed away. Thirteen employees previously tested positive for the virus, but again, there have been no new cases reported this week.

The resident at the Americus Retirement Center continues in precautionary isolation on campus, even though they remain asymptomatic. There have been no new resident or employee cases reported.

Residents at Magnolia Manor South in Moultrie who previously tested positive have been retested. None are showing symptoms. Six of the seven Assisted Living residents who tested positive are now testing negative. Results are still pending for the seventh. No campus employees are known to have the disease.

Testing at Magnolia Manor on the Coast in Richmond Hill has revealed no new resident or staff cases. The resident who previously tested positive continues to receive care on campus.

The St. Simons Nursing Center has no known positive resident cases, but four employees previously tested positive. There are also no known positive resident cases in the campus Assisted Living program, but one employee previously tested positive.

Last week, Todd reported that one employee at Magnolia Manor of St. Marys tested positive, but there have been no new employee or resident cases.

No residents have tested positive at the Midway campus in Liberty County, but one employee has now tested positive.

There are no reported resident or employee cases at Macon or the Mattie Marshall Memory Care program in Americus.

Magnolia Manor has regularly reported that any staff with symptoms are placed on leave and must be cleared before returning to work. Residents testing positive receive care in a special campus quarantine unit to help control the spread. Strict infection control protocols are utilized across the organization, including the use of PPE.

Magnolia Manor continues to follow all guidelines recommended by the CDC, CMS and the Georgia Department of Public Health.

As a 501(c)(3) faith-based nonprofit, Magnolia Manor welcomes donations, which are tax deductible as allowed by law.

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