Two dead at Florida Keys senior living center. One staff member is COVID-19 positive
Two female residents of a Florida Keys senior living facility died this week, and the state Department of Health is trying to determine if the cause of death is COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
Also, a staffer at the 120-bed facility, the Crystal Health and Rehab Center on Plantation Key, has tested positive, according to the Florida Department of Health.
The two dead women are 87 and 101, said Bob Eadie, administrator of the Department of Health in Monroe County. It is not immediately clear when they died.
The positive staff member is a speech pathologist, Eadie said.
Officials at the Crystal Health and Rehab Center on Plantation Key did not return phone calls or direct Facebook messages Friday.
A response team from the Department of Health was on its way to the facility to investigate the cases Friday afternoon, Eadie said. Members of that team may include personnel from the Florida National Guard, Eadie said.
The state Department of Health in Monroe County confirmed the cases Friday afternoon but did not release additional information.
“Appropriate actions are now being taken. The State Health Office will be providing additional information,” health department spokeswoman Alison Kerr said in an email Friday afternoon.
As of Friday, 79 people have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, in the Florida Keys, according to the health department. Three people have died from the disease.
Crystal Health and Rehab Center has come under fire over the years from the state agency that oversees senior living facilities, the Agency for Health Care Administration.
From January 2005 through October 2018, the agency fined the facility 11 times totaling $109,250, according to online agency records.
The facility has changed ownership twice since August 2011.
This report will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Two dead at Florida Keys senior living center. One staff member is COVID-19 positive."
