Two-thirds of Residents at Brewster Nursing Home Test Positive for Coronavirus

Nearly two-thirds of residents at a nursing home in Brewster, Massachusetts, have tested positive for the coronavirus, town officials said Tuesday.

The town of Brewster said 60 of the 92 residents at Pleasant Bay Nursing Center have tested positive for COVID-19. Five residents have yet to be tested. The tests were conducted between April 10 and April 20 after several residents experienced symptoms.

The town did not provide any information on the condition of the patients.

Deadly clusters of COVID-19 have taken a toll at nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the country.

Officials from the state Department of Public Health and the Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality are "actively involved" in overseeing the response at Pleasant Bay, the town said in a statement. That includes ensuring appropriate staffing and making personal protective equipment available to prevent further spread within the facility and the community.

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus because of the number of people living in close proximity. Outbreaks have been reported at numerous other facilities throughout Massachusetts.

The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, along with researchers at Harvard University and MIT launched a new program Friday to test residents and staff at seven nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The "surveillance testing" will allow researchers to hopefully get ahead of a possible COVID 19 outbreak.