Four residents, seven staff at KNRC test positive for COVID-19

By DAN ROBINSON
Times staff writer
and AP reports

Four residents and seven staff members at the Kenton Nursing and Rehabilitation Center have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an update from the Ohio Department of Health.

This is the first time any nursing home facility in Hardin County has reported positive residents or workers.

KNRC administrator Rick Cordonnier told the Times this morning that he was not able to discuss the situation at this time.

The Kenton-Hardin Health Department on Tuesday reported to its board the county had a COVID-19 “hot spot” at a facility which started last Thursday, but declined to identify where the hot spot was located. The county department is working with the facility and the Ohio Department of Health on the situation, said Director of Nursing Cindy Keller.

Earlier this week, Gov. Mike DeWine announced that all staff members in the state’s nursing homes will be tested for the coronavirus in a ramped-up effort in Ohio’s hard-hit long-term care facilities.

The governor said testing also will be done on residents who are most likely to have been exposed. Testing by 14 teams of medically trained National Guard members will begin this week.

Testing of staff “will help nursing home administrators understand the status of the virus in their facilities and will help isolate the virus and help keep it from infecting their community,” DeWine said. Ohio has more than 900 nursing homes.

Ohio Health Department data shows that about seven of every 10 coronavirus deaths in Ohio were among nursing home residents.