SEVENTEEN RESIDENTS, SIX STAFF MEMBERS AT FOCUSED CARE AT BRENHAM TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

  

Residents and staff members of Focused Care at Brenham continue to recover after 23 in total have tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a statement from the nursing facility, 17 residents and six staff members have tested positive.  Fourteen of the residents have been transferred to Focused Care at Baytown, while two have been transferred to Kruse Village’s COVID-19 unit and one other was admitted to Baylor Scott and White in Brenham.

Of the 17 residents who tested positive, four have been fully vaccinated, six have received the first dose, five declined to be vaccinated, and another two were admitted to the facility after the conclusion of the second vaccine clinic on January 28^th.  According to the facility, 21 of 35 total residents have been fully vaccinated, with six residents declining vaccinations.

Twelve residents received both the first and second vaccine shots during the clinics on January 7^th and 28^th.  Seventeen additional residents were vaccinated for the first time during the second clinic.  On March 4^th, nine out of the 17 received their second shot, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends those testing positive for COVID-19 not take the vaccine until they are cleared of the virus.

The six staff members that have tested positive are all quarantining off site.  Three of them were not vaccinated during the first two vaccination clinics and are symptomatic.  One of the three not vaccinated completed quarantine and returned to work on Monday.

Another team member who tested positive received both vaccine doses and is not showing symptoms.  The other two staff members who tested positive each had one dose of the vaccine and are showing mild symptoms.

There are currently no Focused Care at Brenham residents or team members on site who have tested positive for COVID-19.

The CDC says immunity impact “typically takes two weeks after vaccination for the body to build protection (immunity) against the virus that causes COVID-19.”  It says it is still possible for a person to get COVID-19 before or just after vaccination and then get sick because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection.  People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after their first dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The facility began outbreak testing after a team member tested positive on February 22^nd, and is performing testing every three to four days as required by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).  The frequent testing will continue until no positive tests are returned in 14 days, after which the facility will return to its regular policy of testing twice a week.