Two at Booker Rest Home, three staff test positive

DAYTON–Two residents of Booker Rest Home and three staff tested positive for COVID-19 on May 19, according to a Columbia County Health System news release Thursday, May 20.

The residents, one vaccinated and one unvaccinated, were reported to be in stable condition at the time of the announcement late last week. The vaccinated resident was asymptomatic and doing quite well, the news release stated. The non-vaccinated resident had been moved to Dayton General’s Acute Care floor with mild symptoms and is being treated.

As of press deadline, the unvaccinated patient is reported to be “doing well and has returned to Booker.”

Three staff members have tested positive, all with mild to no symptoms, and are self-isolating at home, according to Sean Russell, Marketing and Communications Manager. “Our remaining residents and staff have tested negative at the time of this writing. Due to patient privacy, no further information is available at this time,” he said.

Russell stated how the coronavirus was transmitted into the Booker residents and staff is unknown.

All visitation at Booker Rest Home is temporarily suspended for the next 28 days while the facility conducts rigorous COVID-19 testing of residents and staff per Department of Health guidance, Russell said. Rest-home visitation was suspended at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in March, 2020, and was reinstituted on April 1.

Booker Rest Home is one of only three nursing homes in the Pacific Northwest to remain COVID-free throughout the first year and the only one to have zero staff turnover. “This remarkable feat is a testament to their extraordinary level of care and commitment and would not have been possible without the never-ending support of our community,” Russell said. “We could not be more proud of this team of individuals.”

The sacrifices made by our residents, staff, their friends, and families during the year of lockdown, were without question, stressful, yet paid dividends in that no resident contracted COVID-19, Russell said.

Hospital administration expressed appreciation to the community, Booker Rest Home residents and staff for their efforts to remaining coronavirus free for over a year.

All are urged to continue to take every precaution, regardless of vaccination status, Russell said.