Janelle Irwin Taylor
An additional 13 residents at the Freedom Square long-term care facility in Seminole have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number to 54.
Another 94 residents tested negative.
One additional employee also tested positive, bringing that total to 22, according to Freedom Square officials.
The new numbers are an update from Tuesday as residents and staff continue to undergo testing.
The infections are mostly related to the Seminole Pavilion Nursing Center, but new cases are beginning to emerge from the facility’s Freedom Square Rehabilitation Center.
Testing was made available this week for all employees, and Freedom Square is working with local, state and federal officials to provide additional testing to symptomatic residents on the entire Freedom Square campus, which also includes an assisted living facility.
Freedom Square identified and notified 237 employees who were directly associated with Seminole Pavilion and likely had contact with residents who tested positive for COVID-19.
The facility expects to work with the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County “to develop more aggressive mitigation strategies.”
Facility leaders admitted they lacked adequate amounts of proper personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks, but they are working to purchase more supplies.
Freedom Square first become aware of a person who tested positive for the virus on April 9, but the facility’s outbreak was not made public until April 15 when Florida Politics first reported it.
So far, three of the facility’s residents have died, one on April 11 and two others on Friday.
Multiple sources who asked not to be named have told Florida Politics the facility lacked adequate personal protective equipment and, in many cases, staffers were using homemade facial coverings not medically graded to protect against the virus. They were also reportedly being told to use the same gown for multiple shifts.
Asked previously about workers’ access to PPE, Michael Mason, Freedom Square executive director, declined to answer specifically. He did say the facility has preventative measures in place and he thinks the facility is in a “comfortable position.” Mason made those comments before commissioners became aware of PPE shortages at the facility.
The facility is now working with health partners to establish mitigation strategies and ensure adequate stocks of PPE.
