health and science

By Alice Waugh

The Commons in Lincoln has accounted for 16 of the town’s 36 cases of Covid-19, and all of the seven fatalities in Lincoln were residents of the facility who had additional medical issues, Lincoln Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean reported on June 1.

The virus has hit nursing and assisted living facilities especially hard nationwide, since their residents are usually elderly and often have comorbidities (two or more chronic diseases) as well as living in close quarters. Staff members often work at more than one facility, which may have increased cross-facility infection, especially earlier during the pandemic. Thirty-one staff members at The Commons have tested positive for the virus and 28 of them have recovered, McGean told the Board of Selectmen on June 1. 

One hundred fifty-four residents of independent living units at the Commons were recently tested over a two-day period, and all were negative, McGean said. Those residents have been quarantined in their apartments and cottages, getting meals and groceries delivered outside their doors by staff.

“If you don’t go out, you can’t catch this virus,” she observed.

All staff and residents at The Commons are now being routinely tested going forward, said McGean, who praised the facility for its transparency with its residents and officials as well as its efforts in limiting infection control with personal protective equipment, isolation, and quarantining.

In a bit of good news, The Commons has seen fewer deaths than all but one of the long-term care facilities in the area, according to data posted on May 27 by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). The Campion Center, a 70-bed nursing home for Jesuit priests in Weston, has had one patient who contracted Covid-19 and 12 staff members who tested positive, and all 13 have recovered, said Executive Director Nick Gilbert. As of May 27, Weston had 106 cases among its 7,527 residents, state records show.

As a percentage of its patient capacity, the 42-bed Rivercrest Rehab and Nursing (part of Newbury Court in Concord) has had the most deaths at 29% (12 deaths), closely followed by the 40-bed Royal at Wayland Nursing and Rehab Center at 28% (11 deaths).

McGean also reported that seven Lincoln residents have had an antibody test for Covid-19. She noted last month that a positive antibody test could mean isolation for the person until they got a different test to see whether they currently had the virus. The DPH still recommends this, but in a sign of the rapidly evolving public health guidelines, the federal Centers for Disease Control has withdrawn the same recommendation. “Right now we’re getting two different stories,” she said.

There are no facilities in Lincoln that offer testing for active infection with Covid-19, though there are now hundreds of testing sites all over Massachusetts.

As the state slowly reopens, McGean’s work will now include educating staff at summer day camps about infection prevention. Gov. Charlie Baker announced this week that camps and child care centers can open as soon as June 8 with restrictions.

Click the arrow within a column header to sort by that column:

Long-term care facilities with 2+ known Covid cases and facility-reported deaths

Town	Total cases	Date	Population (2010)	Cases as % of 2010 pop.
Lexington	151	4/15/20	33,480	0.45%
Weston	65	4/13/20	12,067	0.54%
Bedford*	64	4/15/20	14,126	0.45%
Sudbury	49	4/13/20	18,940	0.26%
Wayland	26	4/10/20	13,720	0.19%
Concord	22	4/13/20	19,323	0.11%
Lincoln	16	4/12/20	6,726	0.24%

* Staff and residents
** Cumulative COVID-19 deaths – includes residents only

Assisted living residences with 2+ known Covid cases

Town	Population (2010 census)
Lexington	33,480
Concord	19,323
Sudbury	18,940
Bedford	14,126
Wayland	13,720
Weston	12,067
Lincoln	6,726

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Area facilities that do not appear on either list:

• Concord Health Care Center (Concord)
• Artis Senior Living (Lexington)
• Brookhaven/Gardenview (Lexington)
• Lexington Health Care Center (Lexington)
• Wingate at Sudbury (Sudbury)
• Merriam Village (Weston)

Two residents at The Commons at Lincoln have died of Covid-19 and the town’s total number of cases has risen to 16, Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean reported on Tuesday.

Lincoln has the lowest number of cases compare to surrounding towns. Lexington has the most with 151 (see table below).

“The other towns I cover are really amping up, and I’m guessing that Lincoln will continue to have more and more cases,” said McGean, who is also the public health nurse for Concord and Carlisle and performs some public health functions for Maynard as well. 

“I cannot emphasize enough the importance of social distancing,” she added. Anyone who needs help with food or medication delivery can contact the Lincoln Board of Health (781-259-2614 or carrolle@lincolntown.org) or Council on Aging director Carolyn Bottum (781-259-8811 or bottumc@lincolntown.org).

The Commons, like other senior housing and care facilities, is vulnerable to clusters of illness because of the age and physical proximity of its residents. “The situation has been escalating over the last week,” McGean noted. The facility is “exploring, among other options,” the idea of creating a Covid-19 isolation unit, said a spokesperson for Benchmark Senior Living, which owns The Commons along with 34 facilities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

Many staff members at The Commons also work at other Benchmark facilities. Thirteen employees who work at The Commons have tested positive so far, the spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.

“We are working closely with agencies to limit their staff interactions in other buildings. All associates, whether they are a full-time Benchmark Senior Living associate or a temporary agency worker, are screened and protected in exactly the same way in accordance with CDC guidelines,” the spokesperson said. The company outlined its precautionary measures on its coronavirus web page.

The Board of Health has strongly recommended that the facility test all residents and staff (a total of about 500 people) for Covid-19. “The best way to control this is to know who’s infected as early as possible and isolate them,” Lincoln Board of Health member Patricia Miller said.

The problem is the limited availability of tests. The board recommended that The Commons reach out to the National Guard, which is providing free on-site testing for residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities (though not independent living units), but they’re backed up by at least one to two weeks, Miller said. 

The facility is also looking into the possibility of having testing done through Mt. Auburn Hospital. Benchmark Senior Living, which owns The Commons, can do testing, but there’s a long turnaround time to get results back from labs in another state, Miller said.

The Board of Health hasn’t officially ordered testing at The Commons only because it wouldn’t make any difference. “They want to get everyone tested as well — they want to do the right thing in this situation,” Miller said, referring to management at The Commons. “All these facilities are vying for the same resources. There’s just not enough to go around because we’re in the peak of this.”

The Benchmark spokesperson would not confirm testing plans except to say that they are “proactively looking at all options to test our staff and residents.”

Staff members are leaving dinner and breakfast for the following day at residents’ doors each evening, based on what they ordered from a menu, according to two residents. They also shop for groceries requested by residents and call them every day to check on their health and answer questions. No one (even those in independent living cottages and apartments) may have outside visitors, and residents are discouraged from visiting each other. 

“The Commons has done a marvelous job. They’re working as hard as they can to keep us safe,” said resident David Levington.

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Covid-19 cases in Lincoln and surrounding towns

(Note that towns post data on different days)

Town	Total cases	Date	Population (2010)	Cases as % of 2010 pop.
Lexington	151	4/15/20	33,480	0.45%
Weston	65	4/13/20	12,067	0.54%
Bedford*	64	4/15/20	14,126	0.45%
Sudbury	49	4/13/20	18,940	0.26%
Wayland	26	4/10/20	13,720	0.19%
Concord	22	4/13/20	19,323	0.11%
Lincoln	16	4/12/20	6,726	0.24%

* Includes Hanscom Air Force Base