Five residents test positive at veterans home

One additional positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed Saturday, April 4, afternoon at the Southern Nevada State Veterans Home, bringing the total to five after all 161 residents at the facility were tested.

An additional resident, an 86-year-old man, died from complications related to COVID-19 after being transported from the home and admitted to the hospital.

“We are extremely grateful these residents are all doing well,” said Nevada Department of Veterans Services Director Kat Miller. “They all remain in isolation and are being cared for by our team members who are following established local, state and federal guidelines to stop the spread of the virus. I can’t thank our health care partners and the community enough for their tremendous support, as this has meant a lot to our residents and team members.”

Testing of all team members continues.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System and Nevada State Public Health Labs are assisting with testing and are ensuring test results are sent back as quickly as possible, said Terri Hendry, communications director for the veterans department.

“Due to a nationwide storage of test kits, this is the first opportunity we’ve had to test all residents and team members. As we continue to test, COVID-19 positive numbers and conditions of residents may change,” she added.

The veterans home has set up a COVID-19 update line that provides daily updates on or before noon for interested community members as well as residents and family members; it can be reached at 702-332-6705. Daily updates also are available at http://www.veterans.nv.gov.

Hali Bernstein Saylor is editor of the Boulder City Review. She can be reached at hsaylor@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523. Follow @HalisComment on Twitter.