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A patient of a Brewer rehabilitation facility has tested positive for the coronavirus, but no other cases have been detected there, a state health official said.
The single case was reported at the Brewer Center for Health and Rehabilitation, which offers short-term rehabilitative care services such as physical, occupational and speech therapy, according to its website.
Just one case was reported, but it comes as state officials are on high alert about the threat the virus poses to nursing homes, group homes and other congregate care settings where it can quickly circulate through clusters of people.
The elderly are particularly vulnerable to the virus, and at least six people have already died following the outbreaks that have been reported at three Maine nursing facilities.
[Our COVID-19 tracker contains the most recent information on Maine cases by county]
Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced the Brewer case during a news conference on Friday afternoon. He said that the agency has been in close contact with the Brewer center’s parent company and has “universally tested, actually, that entire facility.” He did not state the health condition of the patient who was infected.
“As of about 10:30 this morning, we were only able to confirm one case at that facility,” Shah said.
Earlier this week, a Maine CDC spokesperson declined to say whether a positive case had been detected at the Brewer Center for Health and Rehabilitation, saying that the agency could only release that information if there was an outbreak. An outbreak requires at least three people affiliated with a facility to test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
An email to the Brewer facility’s parent company, National Health Care Associates, was not returned earlier this week.
National Health Care Associates also owns the Augusta Center for Health and Rehabilitation, which is one of five Maine long-term care facilities with an outbreak of COVID-19. As of Friday, 46 residents and 24 staff of the Augusta center had the disease, according to Shah. Two other people have died in connection with the Augusta outbreak.
Watch: Maine CDC press conference, April 17
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