Kingsway in Schenectady Tuesday evening confirms COVID-19 death; Schenectady County death toll now at 4

SCHENECTADY — A Kingsway Manor Assisted Living resident has died from coronavirus, Kingsway confirmed on Tuesday. 

A 92 year-old woman received a positive test result and died on Sunday, said Kingsway spokesperson Sharon Sleicher.

Cheyenne Provost said her grandmother was transported to Ellis Hospital on Thursday after having difficulty breathing. 

After testing positive for COVID-19, she was placed in an isolated unit, where she died early Sunday.

“She was quarantined within the hospital and visitors were not allowed in,” Provost said. 

A second resident tested positive for the virus at Ellis Hospital on Tuesday, officials said. 

“This resident remains in the hospital receiving treatment,” Sleicher said on Tuesday evening. 

The campus in the city’s Woodlawn neighborhood contains five separate facilities housing 500 residents, each with its own staff. 

“In both instances, we notified all Kingsway Manor residents and their families, the same day that results were known,” Sleicher said.

Staff immediately quarantined residents and staff who may have had contact with affected individuals, as per state guidelines.

“Those residents who are quarantined have their vital signs monitored multiple times per day,” Sleicher said. “Staff are screened before each shift, which includes screening questions from CDC and taking temperatures.”

The Gazette initially reported on Tuesday that a staff member and resident at Kingsway Arms Nursing Center tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized. 

In response to the report, Kingsway said the resident, which is not the same person who is currently hospitalized, had tested negative and was discharged. 

But Sleicher, who serves as the spokesperson for all five Kingsway facilities, did not disclose the Sunday death in her Monday interview with The Gazette.

Provost told The Gazette on Tuesday afternoon that her grandmother succumbed to the disease, and questioned the perceived lack of clarity from Kingsway on their previous statements. 

Kingsway did not disclose the death and hospitalization until family members contacted the facility following The Gazette’s report and subsequent clarification.

“It’s not just about my grandmother,” Provost said. “There’s a lot of families in that facility. I just want people to know the truth.”

Visitation to Kingsway Arms Nursing Center was suspended on March 10; at Kingsway Manor Assisted Living on March 12, and to three independent living apartment facilities on March 20.

At least one Kingsway Arms Nursing Center employee has tested positive.

After screening protocols detected potential symptoms on March 16, the staffer was required to engage in a 14-day self-quarantine. 

The announcement brings the death toll in Schenectady County to at least four as of Tuesday evening. 

“We’ve had four deaths at this point,” said Ellis Hospital spokesman Philip Schwartz. “The four we’ve had have all been elderly people with underlying health problems that have complicated their cases.”

The death toll in New York state reached 1,550 by Tuesday morning, according to the state Department of Health.

Categories: -News-, Schenectady County