LINN COUNTY, IA – Willow Gardens Care Center, located at 455 31st Street in Marion, is the sixth long-term care facility in Linn County that has met the state’s definition of an outbreak. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), an outbreak occurs when three or more cases of COVID-19 are identified among residents of a facility. A total of 11 residents and staff at Willow Gardens have tested positive for COVID-19 between June 5th and June 9th. No deaths are associated with this outbreak at this time. Upon identification of these positive COVID-19 cases, Willow Gardens notified residents and their families. “We are in constant contact with our families and are doing everything we can to support them,” explains Casey Kann, Administrator at Willow Gardens.
The affected residents will remain in isolation for 14 days. “We have been and continue to do everything we can to ensure we stop the spread of this virus within our facility and have increased our emergency response procedures. We are working with local and state health officials to ensure we are taking the appropriate steps at this time. At this point, all precautions will remain in place within the building until the virus has been eradicated," says Kann.
COVID-19 spreads easily and rapidly in settings where people live close together. Older adults and those with underlying chronic medical conditions are at increased risk of severe complications or death due to COVID-19 infection. Everyone should wash hands often, cover coughs and sneezes, stay home when you are sick, practice physical distancing by maintaining 6 feet between yourself and others, and wear a cloth face covering when physical distancing is not possible.
For more information on COVID-19, call 2-1-1 or visit www.LinnCounty.org/COVID19.
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Linn County Public Health, an agency within Linn County government, serves more than 225,000 residents of Linn County to prevent disease and injury, promote healthy living, protect the environment, and ensure public health preparedness. Learn more at linncounty.org/health or by calling 319-892-6000. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LCPublicHealth and follow us on Twitter @LCPublicHealth.