Centre Crest Home Staggered by COVID

BELLEFONTE, PA – The Centre Crest Home on Howard Street in Bellefonte is reporting 145 active cases of COVID-19, nearly 90 percent of the residents at the Centre County home.

In a recent posting, Centre Crest administrator Andrew Naugle reported 145 “active confirmed” resident cases. The home presently has 164 residents. Naugle said there are 46 “active confirmed” cases among the home staff of 283 employees.

Naugle told the Centre Daily Times on Tuesday, “If you look at the United States right now, the positivity rates are through the roof everywhere. Nursing homes everywhere are having outbreaks. We did a really good job during the first round of outbreaks in March and April of keeping it out of the facility, keeping it contained out of the building. Unfortunately, the positivity rates have just grown so high in the United States right now it’s just hard to keep them out of facilities and nursing homes altogether.”

The CDT reported that Centre Crest has received staffing support from the state Health Department’s Regional Response Health Collaborative Program, though it was not immediately clear why the nearly 90% infection rate did not warrant further action.

Bellefonte borough council president Joanne Tosti-Vasey told the paper, “I knew there was a problem at Centre Crest. I didn’t realize it was this bad, So in one word: Wow.”

The Centre Crest posting said the Centre County facility has had zero staff with a new onset of respiratory symptoms within a 72 hour period.