Beacon assisted living facility at center of COVID-19 cluster, with at least 1 resident who died from virus

Within a matter of days, Hedgewood Assisted Living Program now accounts for 13 of the city of Beacon's 27 active cases, according to Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro.

News 12 Staff

Sep 21, 2020, 9:18 PM

Updated 1,552 days ago

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An assisted living facility in Dutchess County is at the center of a coronavirus cluster, with at least one resident who died from the virus.
Within a matter of days, Hedgewood Assisted Living Program now accounts for 13 of the city of Beacon's 27 active cases, according to Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro.
"We have seen a fairly rapid spread, in this particular assisted living home, and we are working with the state of New York to obviously respond to it, conduct the contact tracing, and to control it," he says.
He added that there soon may be an additional dozen more positives because of Hedgewood.
"It is likely going to result in more cases, with severity because of the age of the individuals and sadly, we've already seen one individual succumb to the disease, says Molinaro. "We have to engage in that social distancing. We are encouraging people, ya know, we cannot have these large gatherings. And continue to wear a mask please."
A spokesman with the assisted living facility tells News 12, "Each of our nearly 200 residents is observed carefully. This facility - subject to 24-hour a day, seven-day a week unannounced inspections, strictly adheres to all NYS Department of Health guidelines."
The person did not go into detail on the breakdown of cases among residents and employees, or even the severity of symptoms.
The county executive points out that this is not a nursing home and the county does not have power over it. Instead, the state regulates these entities.