DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Loyalhanna care center was one of the first nursing homes in Westmoreland County to publicly confirm it had a case of coronavirus last month — now, the health department says the Derry Township facility has Legionella in its water.
Press secretary Nate Wardle sent Channel 11 a statement saying:
“There have NOT been any cases of Legionnaire’s at the facility. They did have a water sample test positive, and are taking appropriate steps to remediate.”
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Wardle said when an infectious disease occurs in a congregate care facility, like a nursing home, there are significant concerns as to how quickly it can spread.
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The bacteria can get into the water system and can cause pneumonia-like systems.
While there aren’t any confirmed cases of Legionnaire’s disease, Loyalhanna Care Center has had seven residents test positive for COVID-19 as of two weeks ago, according to our partners at the Trib.
The state health department broke down the numbers by counties. As of today, Westmoreland County has five nursing or personal care homes carrying COVID-19 cases, with a total of 88 residents testing positive and 23 among employees.
The Greater Latrobe area is leading the county with 68 cases and Loyalhanna Care Center is within that reporting ZIP code.
We tried reaching out to the administration at the nursing home and the local company its owned by, but we did not hear back.
Westmoreland Manor also found Legionella in its water earlier this year. It took them nearly a month to mitigate that problem.
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