Son says his mother tested positive for COVID-19 after nursing home outbreak

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Colorado Springs man says his mother is among several people who have tested positive for COVID-19 inside the Bear Creek Senior Living Facility.

Tom Roberts reached out to KRDO expressing concern for his 87-year-old mother with Alzheimer's Disease.

"We've got two weeks to find out whether she's going to make it or not," Roberts said.

He doesn't fault the care facility. In fact, he says they've done everything they can to keep the virus from entering it.

"That place was locked down very thoroughly right as soon as the pandemic started and how can COVID get in there when they're supposedly having all these restrictions?" Roberts said.

The Colorado Department of Health and Environment says the outbreak at Bear Creek Senior Living Facility started on September 11.

As of Thursday afternoon, the El Paso County Health Department says 3 residents have died who tested positive for COVID-19, another 7 residents and 14 staff members are still fighting the virus.

"Anytime Public Health identifies a case of COVID-19 that is associated with a residential health care setting, we work with the facility on best practices for containing transmission of the virus and support the facility with additional resources such as infection prevention consultation, testing options, and personal protective equipment," explained Michelle Hewitt, Public Health Information Officer.

An outbreak is determined when two or more people test positive for COVID-19 in the same building.

An email sent to family members provided by Roberts says, "We have been working hard on getting widespread testing in place this week and are in the process of testing all residents and staff to get a better picture of the situation we're dealing with."

A second email sent on Wednesday and provided by Roberts shows that Executive Director Ian Chartier told family members, "We will have the National Guard here this afternoon with testing and they are hopeful that we will have results by tomorrow afternoon."

A statement from Chartier to KRDO says,

"We can confirm that there are currently COVID-19 cases at our community. We’ve been in close communication with Residents, staff, and families.  We want to thank our staff, residents, and families for their continued support of the efforts our community is taking to fight the COVID-19 outbreak at Bear Creek Senior Living.  

In preparation for COVID-19 cases, we had implemented the Rapid Response criteria from the Colorado COVID-19 LTCF Checklist and CDC guidance as it relates to infection control practices, isolation precautions, social distancing, and staff and resident monitoring.  We have been in daily communication with the El Paso County Health Department and have started working with the Colorado Department of Health’s Rapid Response team.  We have completed facility-wide testing of staff and residents twice over the last week and following CDC guidance with positive or symptomatic cases."