Four dead from COVID-19 at SF nursing home; supervisor seeks answers
Four dead from COVID-19 at SF nursing home
San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston confirms that four patients in their eighties have now died from COVID-19 at a nursing home in the Western Addition.
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco supervisor is confirming four residents at a skilled nursing facility in his district have died from COVID-19.
Supervisor Dean Preston is saying he's frustrated he's not getting more information about what's unfolding at the Central Gardens Convalescent facility.
It is the exact kind of facility officials had been most concerned about-- a congregate living situation with a vulnerable population.
The facility on Ellis Street in San Francisco's Western Addition sits in Dean Preston's district.
The supervisor confirmed four patients, all in their 80s, had died.
"It's tragic. Four deaths reported there; a total of 67 people COVID-19 positive, a mix of staff and residents," said Preston.
KTVU spoke with a certified nursing assistant inside the facility on Tuesday who said she hadn't heard of anyone dying, but that it was scary at first and that patients who had tested positive were separated from others.
“All our patients, security and residents; most of them they're doing better. No cough, no fever, hopefully everything is OK. On that side. We try to do our best."
The supervisor said he's reached out to the state department of public health and San Francisco's health department and had a tough time getting any kind of a timeline on when the patients died, or any additional information about them.
"I wish I had a more thorough update that I could give you," said Preston. "We have been pounding on the virtual door of the Department of Public Health to get more information. I have been frustrated so far with not getting more."
The supervisor said there are other skilled nursing facilities in his district and throughout the city, and worries about the ongoing risk and said he needs more information.
"These folks need to be our top priority in terms of testing and prevention because we know that if they contract this virus it could well be deadly," said Preston.
KTVU has also reached out to the city and state departments of public health.
San Francisco referred us to state officials who wrote back to KTVU saying they would not grant our request for an interview about Central Gardens, and would not answer any other questions about a timeline, the identity of the victims, or any investigation.