On Wednesday, March 25, 2020, a resident of Brookdale Charleston Gardens tested positive for COVID-19. Brookdale Charleston Gardens is a senior living home in Charleston.
The same day, a combined team went to the home to test all 81 residents. The team came from the county health department, Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) and the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority. Testing began that evening. Residents with symptoms were tested first, and CAMC processed the tests. On that day, confirmed cases in Kanawha County went from six to 13.
Two days later, the health department reported the results. Of the residents, 78 tested negative. Two residents declined the test, but they had no symptoms. See Health Department Provides Update on Charleston Gardens Testing.
In early April 2020, a team of the same agencies tested residents at a second Charleston facility. The county health officer said the team was “taking quick action” there, as it did at Charleston Gardens. See 124 residents, 39 staff members of Eastbrook Center tested for COVID-19.
Sources
- Charleston Gazette-Mail: Kanawha COVID-19 cases double, one in assisted living home (March 25, 2020)
- WCHS Radio: report on the positive case and resident testing at Brookdale Charleston Gardens (March 25, 2020), no longer online
- WCHS Radio: Residents in Charleston senior living home test negative for COVID-19 (March 27, 2020)
- City of Charleston: Combined team tests for Coronavirus at Eastbrook Center (April 6, 2020)