BEATRICE – Public Health Solutions (PHS) reports an additional lab-confirmed COVID-19 case in Gage County…associated with the same assisted living facility that has reported previous confirmed cases. The newly confirmed case is an employee of the facility and is in self-quarantine at home.

PHS disease surveillance staff is actively monitoring the patient. It brings the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Gage County and the PHS district to 24. There are no confirmed cases reported in the other district counties of Fillmore, Jefferson, Saline, and Thayer.

A Nebraska State Senator from Adams says his community is pulling together to support the local assisted living center, as it works through positive tests for COVID-19 in some of the home’s residents and staff.

Senator Myron Dorn says he’s spoken with Gold Crest Retirement Center Administrator Jeff Fritzen and Adams Mayor Chris Schiebur…both who are confident moving forward. State health officials have been working closely with the retirement center.

"The medical directors from the State of Nebraska and other doctors also have been involved in the decisions. There were five residents and two staff test positive. Those five residents were moved up to Lincoln". More testing was done later, and another five residents were moved to a Lincoln facility.
Center staff who remain on the job are isolated within the center.

"They had closed the facility down to visitors, only staff members. I did visit with an individual in the community whose wife was up there, and he could not even get in to visit her. So, you saw pictures of people visiting from the outside, through the window. So, they've been taking steps to minimize the exposure and risk".

A majority of the residents of Gold Crest remain at the center, as it consults with the State of Nebraska.
"Jeff said his staff have been troopers through this. They've been putting in a lot of time and hopefully here as we go forward in another week to ten days, they're trying to maintain where they're at, and get this situation cleared up".

There is a daycare associated with the assisted living center and it was closed immediately after the first positive test for COVID-19 came back. The facilities have been separated from each other.

Senator Dorn says in times like this, people need all the support they can get…..sometimes just checking up on an elderly neighbor, visiting with a phone call or getting them some food or supplies, if they need them.

"Those little things...they may not seem like much, but those things are very, very important in how we get through this issue, with the coronavirus".
Dorn said the people of Nebraska tend to rally around and help each other, through tough times such as the pandemic.