St. John the Baptist remains one of the highest county/parishes per capita in COVID-19 deaths largely because of an outbreak at a veterans’ home in Reserve that’s killed 16.
Deputy Secretary for the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs Julie Baxter-Payer says the facility saw its first resident show symptoms March 19th, with its first positive test result March 23rd.
“Very early on, on March 13th, we shut down visitation and any trips out of homes and began rigorous medical screening at the beginning of every employee shift on employees at all five of our veterans’ homes,”
The statewide stay home order was put into place on March 22nd.
Baxter-Payer says the facility has 26 positive tests so far, and those who’ve been infected are all in the high-risk group.
“Of the positives that we have seen under this very unfortunate pandemic we are looking at about 70 and 95 are the ages of what we have been seeing,” says Baxter-Payer.
The state’s other four homes in Jackson, Jennings, Monroe, and Bossier have not reported any COVID-19 cases.
Baxter-Payer says all of their facilities have been inspected by state and federal health officials, and they are doing everything they can to keep residents safe while supporting them emotionally.
“We want to have their special days that they have in the homes, their birthdays. We arrange facetiming with families. We make sure if there is a possibility within social distancing to take a veteran outside if it’s a good sunny day that we do,” says Baxter-Payer.
Four veterans have recovered of the 26 who tested positive so far. Seven employees have been able to return to work after testing positive.
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