Motion Picture Retirement Home Resident Tests Positive for Coronavirus
By Gene Maddaus
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) –
A resident at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home has tested positive for coronavirus, as nursing homes have become especially vulnerable to the illness.
In a statement, CEO Bob Beitcher said two other residents are also showing symptoms of coronavirus, and have been placed in an isolation unit. The facility is working to get those residents tested.
Los Angeles County has received reports of COVID-19 cases at 35 facilities, including 20 nursing homes, according to Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director. Eleven facilities have reported three or more cases, Ferrer said at a briefing on Tuesday.
Beitcher said MPTF residents have been sheltering in place for more than three weeks. Visitors are not allowed, and only essential workers are permitted to enter.
The Woodland Hills facility is home to about 250 retirees from the entertainment industry.
The resident who has the disease initially tested negative at MPTF’s skilled nursing facility. He was later taken to West Hills Hospital, where he tested positive. He has been at the hospital for the last several days.
The two other residents are experiencing mild-to-moderate symptoms, Beitcher said, and will have the option to be transferred to a local acute care hospital if symptoms worsen. He said families of residents have been notified.
“The staff is devastated obviously, but they know this, and I reminded them of it again this morning, they have been absolutely heroic in all aspects of their jobs, totally committed to mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and providing the best care to our residents,” Beitcher said in the statement. “For now, for us, for you, it’s all about containment. In the meantime, we hold our positive resident and his family in our thoughts and prayers.”
Of the 3,000 people in the county who have tested positive, 155 of them either live or work in an institutional setting.
