Two Staunton nursing homes deal with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks Two Staunton nursing homes, including the Envoy of Staunton, are dealing with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks. (Source: WHSV) By Chelsea Church | January 15, 2021 at 6:14 PM EST - Updated January 15 at 6:14 PM
STAUNTON, Va. (WHSV) â Two skilled-nursing centers in Staunton are among some of the most severely affected nursing homes in Virginia when it comes to COVID-19.
Those infections have led to more than 30 deaths between the two facilities.
âFrom the beginning of this pandemic long-term care facilities have been particularly impacted by COVID-19,â Tammie Smith, Public Relations Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Health, said.
Residents in the Historic Triangle had quite the year.
The coronavirus pandemic affected everything from daily tasks like shopping at grocery stores and helping kids with their school work to celebrations like graduations and weddings.
Essential workers worked overtime. Thousands of people lost their jobs and others worked from home. We visited loved ones on Zoom and learned new phrases like “social distancing,” “face masks” and “the new normal.” There were protests against police brutality and rallies for presidential candidates too.
Here are the events that shaped 2020.
1 of 20
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread in Virginia, localities are taking measures to prepare for potential outbreaks.(WYDaily/Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Before the coronavirus pandemic, I mostly wrote stories about Newport News and occasionally, the Historic Triangle.
When the coronavirus hit Virginia, I switched gears to focus on the Historic Triangle, writing about daily updates from the governor and the latest case numbers to struggling nonprofits and company layoffs.
I wrote other stories about the coronavirus too like alcoholics struggling with their addiction and social isolation, and how those lying on their deathbeds in hospice care were limited to one visitor at a time.
Some stories affected me more than others but every story left its mark.
Here are my top five stories:
The December deluge of COVID-19 infections for Polk County continued with Monday’s report of 286 newly confirmed cases.
The Florida Department of Health released that figure in its Monday afternoon update, reflecting tests processed the previous day. Polk County has exceeded 200 new infections every day during December except for Christmas Day, according the state agency’s data.
Meanwhile, the positive testing rate for Polk County continues to rise. Monday’s update reported a 14.6% positive rate for tests processed on Sunday, well above the 10% threshold the Department of Health has set as necessary to limit community spread of the virus.
That followed a rate of 13.51% for the update from Sunday. Polk County has exceeded the 10% rate on all but four of the past 14 days and has surpassed 9.5% on every one.