ROCKLAND, Maine ― A total of 35 cases and one death have been linked to the Woodlands Memory Care facility since a COVID-19 outbreak was detected there last month.
A breakdown of the cases between staff and residents was not immediately available Thursday. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention opened an outbreak investigation at the facility on Oct. 27.
Maine’s nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have seen some of the state’s worst outbreaks since the pandemic began.
Woodlands Senior Living operates seven assisted-living facilities across the state, including Woodlands Memory Care of Rockland, which provides long-term care to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other memory impairments.
Woodlands Senior Living also operates Cape Memory Care, in Cape Elizabeth, which was the site of the largest single long-term care facility outbreak in Maine earlier this year. In total, 61 residents and 24 staff members contracted the virus and seven people died. The outbreak began in late May and subsided in early July.
A staff member was the first to test positive at the Rockland facility after it universally screened all of its staff and residents for the virus, to gauge the potential threat level for visitors.
Soon after, two residents of the facility tested positive at Pen Bay Medical Center, where they were being treated for unrelated issues.
The 38-bed Rockland facility provides care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other memory impairments. It is home to 32 residents and about 20 staff members.