New Gracedale coronavirus cases leads Northampton County to close nursing home to visitors, executive says

Northampton County’s Gracedale nursing home is again closed to the public after a resident and two employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, the county executive said Wednesday.

The news comes nearly a month since the county allowed visitors to return to the Upper Nazareth Township facility.

No residents or staff showed positive results for COVID-19 until last week, county executive Lamont McClure said. He was not sure exactly when nursing home administrators closed the campus to visitors.

The resident is in an isolation ward, and the infected employees cannot return to work until they test negative, McClure said.

The county is using rapid tests on employees and staff -- results are available within 15 minutes -- and then witches to more accurate but invasive testing if anyone shows a positive result from the rapid test, McClure said.

Gracedale has remained closed to volunteers since the pandemic struck the Lehigh Valley in March, McClure said.

“Not only are we trying to protect the residents, we’re trying to protect the public,” McClure said.

Gracedale is the largest nursing home under one roof in Pennsylvania, with 536 residents and approximately 700 employers, according to McClure. It has been hit hard since the pandemic, and with Wednesday’s news, 246 residents and 59 employees have tested positive. Seventy-six Gracedale residents have died from COVID.

Northampton County employs more than 2,200 people, including at the prison in Easton. McClure said the prison has seen no COVID-19 cases among inmates or employees.

Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone can be reached at 610-820-6694 or asalamone@mcall.com.

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