Coroner Scott Sayers confirmed on Saturday afternoon the first two COVID-19 deaths among residents of Centre County nursing homes.
The deceased patients were a 96-year-old man who died on Friday and an 89-year-old woman who died Saturday. Both died at Mount Nittany Medical Center, Sayers said.
Sayers did not identify at which nursing home they had resided, however, both were residents of The Oaks at Pleasant Gap, a spokesperson for the senior living community confirmed.
The first death was included in the Department of Health’s update on Saturday, and at the time, Andrea Schurr, director of mission advancement for Allegheny Lutheran Social Ministries, the nonprofit that operates the facility, confirmed he had been a resident of The Oaks.
Following the release from Sayers, Schurr confirmed that the second person also was a resident of The Oaks. The second death is expected to be included in the DOH’s updated data on Sunday.
‘While we continue to take every precaution to keep our residents safe by following public health guidelines, we are deeply saddened by this passing,’ Schurr said on Saturday afternoon. ‘Please join us in keeping the resident’s loved ones in prayers.’
The deaths are the second and third attributed to COVID-19 in Centre County. The first was an 89-year-old man who died on April 16 at Mount Nittany Medical Center.
According to the health department, three nursing or personal care homes in the county have had a combined 12 resident and six employee cases. The Oaks also has previously reported an employee case, as have Wynwood House in State College and Centre Crest in Bellefonte. Centre Crest said in a Facebook post on Friday that it has no resident cases.
Since March 20, Centre County has had a total of 117 confirmed cases, with no new positives reported on Saturday
