Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute has had yet another COVID-19 outbreak, with seven clients and staff having tested positive for the disease.
"As of Thursday afternoon, there are two positive cases of COVID-19 among staff and five positive cases of COVID-19 among patients," said Lauren Cunningham, spokesperson with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, which oversees SVMHI.
Cunningham would not provide information on their conditions.
"We cannot provide any further details about the patients or staff members, but they are all in our thoughts and we hope for full recoveries as quickly as possible," she said via email Thursday afternoon.
The facility's director, Robin Crews, did not return a message left by the Danville Register & Bee on Thursday. The phone call was referred to the department.
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It's the third outbreak at the facility since July, when four clients and four staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. Thirteen clients and staff members tested positive during a second outbreak in November.
Cunningham said 104 staff members have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 46 have gotten their second dose.
"At this point, 30% of staff at SVMHI have received both doses of the vaccine," Cunningham said.
Department staff at facilities, including those at SVMHI, fall within Phase 1a under the state's COVID-19 vaccine prioritization guidance, she pointed out.
"While the vaccine distribution within our facilities gives us reason to be hopeful, we know we still have a long road ahead of us," Cunningham said.
At the time of the second outbreak in November, the epidemiologist for the Pittsylvania-Danville Health District said Southern Virginia had gone against the Virginia Department of Health's recommendations to stop new patient admissions.
"SVMHI continues to take aggressive measures to fight COVID-19," Cunningham said Thursday. "This has included following CDC and VDH guidelines for health care organizations, restricting visitation policies, further increasing infection control measures, and practicing social distancing among patients to minimize risk of exposure. SVMHI is still carefully following admissions and infection control plans that were approved by the local health department."
Shortly after the first outbreak in July, SVMHI employees were told to continue working if they tested positive for the disease but had no symptoms.
That policy was reversed 13 days later when the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, following a story by the Danville Register & Bee, sent information to the state's psychiatric hospitals, advising that staff who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home.
No staff members who had tested positive for the disease had been allowed to work during the public health emergency, the state mental health department said at the time.
Deborah Patterson, a 60-year-old nurse at Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute, died of COVID-19 at Sovah Health-Danville in September.