Of those who have died from COVID-19 in Montgomery County, 61 percent come from long-term care facilities.

Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, Montgomery County Board of Commissioners chairman, reported April 14 that 67 long term care facility individuals have died from COVID-19.

“In the years I’ve practiced medicine, this is one of the most heartbreaking things that I’ve seen,” Dr. Arkoosh said in an interview April 14 on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show.

People need information to understand why they are being asked to sacrifice, she said. That information includes statistics coming out of nursing homes, where the pandemic is hitting hard.

“When it comes to our long term care facilities, they have some of our most vulnerable members of our community—our parents and our grandparents,” she said.

The loss of life at nursing homes emphasizes the danger of three-to-six-day test delays and lack of personal protective equipment, she said.

“In those intervening days, a lot of other people can be exposed if those workers don’t have enough personal protective equipment.  That’s just one example of how really vulnerable people can be impacted by this,” Dr. Arkoosh said.

Speaking at an April 14 Montgomery County press conference, Dr. Arkoosh said 73 long term care facilities and overnight service facilities for seniors in Montgomery County are now reporting positive cases of COVID-19.

There are 364 resident cases and 223 staff cases of COVID-19, 587 individuals.

The case breakdown is as follows:

• 45 facilities report 1 to 5 cases
• 10 facilities report 6 to 10 cases
• 5 facilities report 11 to 15 cases
• 4 facilities report 16 to 20 cases
• 2 facilities report 21 to 25 cases
• 4 facilities report 26 to 30 cases
• 1 facility reports 36 to 40 cases
• 1 facility reports 41 to 45 cases
• 1 facility reports 51 to 55 cases

Montgomery County continues to work to mitigate the coronavirus spread at long-term facilities and remains in daily contact with the facilities.

Arkoosh said the county started daily monitoring because they noticed more ambulances were being called to the facilities.

“We are assisting them with their request for personal protective equipment,” Dr. Arkoosh said.

Montgomery County has also partnered with Real Time Medical Assistance to compile long term care facility patient data.

“The goal being that we can assist these facilities with trend tracking and early response should there be individuals that we suspect could be positive for COVID-19,” Dr. Arkoosh said.