Official: 18 residents of Life Care have died of COVID-19

All but one of the COVID-19 deaths in Nez Perce County, and nearly all deaths attributed to the illness in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, are linked to an outbreak at Life Care Center of Lewiston.

Nez Perce County has seen 19 deaths from the highly contagious respiratory illness. That is tied for the most in the state with Ada County, which has a much larger population and far more cases.

Tiffany Goin, executive director of Life Care Center of Lewiston, confirmed Friday that a total of 18 residents of the nursing home have died from the illness, including nine who tested positive for it and nine others who were not tested but are presumed to have had the disease.

Officials from Life Care Centers of America had previously said in an April 30 statement that 17 residents of the home had died since the outbreak started and that eight of them had tested positive for COVID-19.

“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the residents who have passed away. Our facility is a family, and we’re all working together to take care of our residents and each other,” said the statement issued by company spokeswoman Leigh Atherton.

But the release was vague about the cause of death of the remaining nine residents. Atherton later said she didn’t know if the other deaths could be attributed to COVID-19.

On Monday, one more Life Care resident who previously tested positive died. Officials at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Public Health – Idaho North Central District have repeatedly declined to comment on the outbreak, saying it would violate the privacy of residents.

In the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, 21 people have died from COVID-19. That includes the 19 from Nez Perce County and two in Asotin County. Brady Woodbury, Asotin County Public Health administrator, said one of the Asotin County deaths can be traced to Life Care Center. The person was not a resident of the facility, “but their route of infection can be traced to Life Care Center,” Woodbury said.

In addition, Woodbury said 16 of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Asotin County have been traced to the Life Care Center outbreak, which sickened 34 residents of the facility and 14 employees.

“We can only identify two cases, and it was actually our first two cases, that we can not definitively tie back to Life Care Center,” he said.

Woodbury is pushing for Asotin County to be included in the Washington counties that may apply for a variance allowing them to move to Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Reopening Washington” plan. Woodbury said it is clear there is no longer any community spread in the county.

“That is kind of a tough spot for a public health person. My goal is to try to protect the people of Asotin County as much as I can, and part of that is having a healthy economy.”

The state initially allowed 10 counties to apply to move on to Phase 2. Among them was Garfield County, which has not had a confirmed case of COVID-19. The county issued a news release Friday indicating its application has been approved and the county is now in Phase 2, which allows manufacturing, new construction, retail stores and restaurants to begin to reopen.

But to do so, such businesses must adhere to guidelines that have not yet been finalized.

There were no new confirmed COVID-19 cases or deaths in north central Idaho or southeastern Washington on Friday.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker. The Tribune’s Kerri Sandaine contributed to this story.