COVID-19 Infections Vanish From Sussex Co. Nursing Homes Totals

SUSSEX COUNTY, NJ - On Monday, there were 358 COVID-19 cases are spread among the five impacted Sussex County long-term care facilities. On Wednesday, that number had dropped to 241.

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The 117 patient decrease came with new reporting on confirmed COVID-19 infections and staff among patients and staff in long-term care facilities.

During his Monday briefing, Gov. Phil Murphy had mentioned changes to the way the numbers were being reported and the word "confirmed" was what was being used. On Tuesday, the Department of Health slashed the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by 1,400, dropping the "official" number from 5,700 to 4,295.

The change drew the ire of Senator Joseph Pennacchio, who is calling for a Senate Select Committee to investigate the Executive Branch's handling of the pandemic after a report the Administration has altered the total of COVID-related nursing home deaths.

"It is a disturbing and ineffective attempt to cover up the extent of an ongoing tragedy that has wreaked havoc in nursing homes," said Pennacchio after a published report that the state had altered its accounting of virus deaths in senior facilities.

For comparison, here are the numbers released Monday of the patients positive for the coronavirus in Sussex County, followed by the number of deaths:

• Barn Hill Care Center, 16, 1
• Valley View Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, 21, 9
• Andover Subacute and Rehab Center I, 49, 17
• Homestead Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. 66. 18
• Andover Subacute and Rehab Center II, 206, 59

Now here are Wednesday's numbers with the facilities in Sussex County that have patients positive for the coronavirus, followed by the number of COVID-19 confirmed residents, followed by the number of COVID-19 confirmed staff, followed by the number of COVID-19 confirmed deaths among residents and ending with the number of COVID-19 confirmed deaths among staff:

• Barn Hill Care Center, 5, 11, 0, 1
• Valley View Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, 16, 6, 8, 1
• Andover Subacute and Rehab Center I, 27, 22, 16, 1
• Homestead Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, 56, 10, 18, 0
• Andover Subacute and Rehab Center II, 137, 68, 58, 1

Also new to the list of metrics is a total of staff infections. In Sussex County that number is 117 with four deaths.

The number of patient deaths is 100, that number decreased by four since Monday. Both lists of facilities were provided by the state Department of Health; there may be discrepancies due to a delay in communications between the facilities and the state.

"The Administration has yet to explain the disastrous policies that led to carnage among the vulnerable and fragile senior population that had been literally held captive in under-prepared facilities so somebody decided to cook the books and erase the loss of almost 1,500 precious souls," said Pennacchio.

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