ALLEGHENY CO., Pa. — Two people at St. Barnabas Nursing Home in Gibsonia have died of COVID-19 and 18 others have tested positive, officials announced Tuesday.
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A spokesperson at the nursing home told Channel 11 it announced its first death and a handful of confirmed cases, including of a staff member, last week. The second death happened early this week.
Patients there who tested positive for coronavirus are being kept in “isolation pods” in a corner of the building.
”I have a lot of living left to do I necessarily don’t want to die you know I would hate for that to be a death sentence for me,” 77-year-old Ruth Ann Wilson, one of the residents who tested positive, told Channel 11.
Nursing homes around the region are bracing for the coming days and weeks when cases are expected to climb.
On top of nursing homes and assisted living facilities having at risk residents, they’re also confined spaces – making it very difficult to tackle COVID-19 once inside.
Wilson is diabetic and has a heart and lung condition. But she said she’s not letting the coronavirus diagnosis crush her spirit.
“I think we are going to be OK, I don’t know, but I think so,” she said.
Over the phone, Wilson said that she and her roommate both have the virus and are quarantined in their room, but doing OK.
She said the staff is doing a great job taking care of them.
“I have a nurse’s aide who is wearing a full contamination outfit when she comes into my room, she’s taking care of me,” Wilson said.
However, she can’t help but miss her family.
“They call me every day and we just talk about how I’m feeling and what’s going on in the world,” she said.
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