Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Trinity Place in Albemarle has experienced a recent uptick in both coronavirus cases and deaths due to the virus, according to data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

The nursing home currently has 56 confirmed cases — 38 infected residents and 18 staff members — with eight residents having died from the virus. This is the second largest outbreak in the county behind only Albemarle Correctional Institution, which has 149 cases and three deaths. While the state data doesn’t document when positive cases are detected or when deaths occur, Trinity Place had only 12 confirmed cases and zero deaths in late July, when the Stanly News & Press published a story about outbreaks in congregate living settings. An outbreak is defined by DHHS as two or more more laboratory-confirmed cases.

“Outbreaks in congregate care facilities are inevitable when infection is pervasive in the community,” said Ted Goins president of Lutheran Services Carolinas, which operates Trinity Place and several other facilities in the state, in a news release. “Despite the pandemic, LSC’s skilled nursing homes, including Trinity Place, are faring better than many, including some facilities who are having a hard time even getting staff members to work. As weary as our Trinity Place teammates are under such extraordinary pressures, they have really stepped up during this pandemic.”

“We continue to use isolation protocol in our facility, and infection control measures are in place,” said Trinity Place Administrator Stephanie Herrin-Huneycutt, adding that weekly testing for residents and staff continues.

The Division of Health Services Regulation conducted an Infection Control Survey at Trinity Place on Aug. 12 and Trinity Place was declared “deficiency free,” according to the news release.

The previous largest outbreak at a nursing home or residential care facility was Woodhaven Court, which currently has 41 cases and five deaths.

Stanly County has 1,282 cumulative cases and 279 active cases as of Monday, though 964 people have fully recovered, according to data from the health department.

Drive-in COVID-19 testing is available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Stanly County Commons. To be eligible for a test, a person must have had contact with someone who tested positive, interacted in a large group or exhibit coronavirus symptoms, according to the health department.

“Everyone in Stanly County and beyond can do their part to keep our elders safe,” Goins said, “including prayer and practicing the three Ws: Wear a mask, Wait six feet apart, and Wash your hands.”