Hilo veterans home ends visitation after employee receives false positive
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Visitation has been canceled at the Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home on Hawaii Island after an employee received a false positive COVID result.
The Hilo veterans home decided to stop visitation while the state Department of Health retests the staff member for COVID.
Officials said the employee works in the food area and does not have contact with patients.
The veterans home said the employee last came into work on Sunday.
DOH said the worker was fully vaccinated and will remain at home until final test results are confirmed.
In the meantime, the nursing facility said it will also be suspending new patient admissions.
Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home had the state’s highest concertation of COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.
Over the course of an outbreak that started in August, 71 residents were infected and 27 died before federal intervention and a change in management were made.
The nursing facility also received at least $600,000 in federal funding in early-April to combat the spread of COVID among residents and staff.
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