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This story was updated at 6:37 p.m.
Birchwood Terrace Rehab and Healthcare reported seven new COVID-19 cases Thursday morning, bringing the total number of infected residents to 14.
The Burlington nursing home and rehab center is testing all of its 112 residents, according to executive director Alecia DiMario. The first Birchwood resident tested positive on Monday, followed by six more on Wednesday.
“We understand that this is an extreme step but one that is necessary and hope to have those results in short order,” DiMario said in a release. “We know that residents of facilities like ours can be uniquely vulnerable to this virus, which is why we are doing everything we can to protect our residents, their families, and our staff.”
The facility has isolated the residents who have tested positive and is working with federal and state health officials to contain the virus. “We are also doing everything possible to minimize any additional cases,” DiMario said.
Birchwood is the second Burlington elder care facility to see an outbreak. At Burlington Health & Rehab, 22 residents and 14 staff members have tested positive for the virus. Eight residents have since died.
Burlington Health & Rehab has moved to testing all its residents — but only after families and residents pushed for widespread tests for nearly two weeks.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger addressed the outbreak at Birchwood Terrace during his briefing Thursday, and said he became aware of the situation Wednesday afternoon.
Weinberger said he told Dr. Mark Levine, the commissioner of the Department of Health, that he was concerned that the Department of Health had not alerted the city about the outbreak earlier.
“I expressed to Dr. Levine strongly that when an outbreak like this occurs, other nursing homes in the area and the city need to be told everything that is happening in real time, not days later,” he said.
Weinberger said Levine apologized for the communication delay and said 250 test kits were being sent to Birchwood.
Half a dozen other elder care facilities across the state have also reported cases among residents or staff, according to Levine.
Three people associated with Pinecrest at Essex senior living facility have died of the coronavirus. The Residence at Quarry Hill in South Burlington had one resident who tested positive after returning from a stint at Burlington Health & Rehab. That resident has since recovered, said spokesperson Ted Doyle.
A total of 338 Vermonters have tested positive for coronavirus as of Thursday, according to the state Department of Health; 17 have died.
