Cleaning crews wearing hazmat suits enter Seattle-area nursing home at center of coronavirus outbreak

Record ID: 1463655

  • Title: Cleaning crews wearing hazmat suits enter Seattle-area nursing home at center of coronavirus outbreak
  • Date: 12th March 2020
  • Summary: KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES (MARCH 11, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CLEANING CREWS IN WHITE HAZMAT SUITS AND MASKS PREPARING TO ENTER LIFE CARE CENTER NURSING HOME VARIOUS OF CLEANING CREWS IN HAZMAT SUITS ENTERING NURSING HOME VIEW OF CLEANING CREWS REMOVING THEIR HAZMAT SUITS AFTER LEAVING NURSING HOME MAN CARRYING TRASH BAGS CONTAINING USED HAZMAT SUITS VARIOUS OF TWO SISTERS TALKING TO THEIR MOTHER THROUGH WINDOW WHO IS IN QUARANTINE INSIDE THE NURSING HOME TWO WOMEN WITH FLOWERS DECORATING EXTERIOR OF NURSING HOME WITH FLOWERS AND RIBBONS VARIOUS OF FLOWERS AND RIBBONS ON TREE TIMOTHY KILLIAN, LIFE CARE CENTER SPOKESPERSON SPEAKING TO THE PRESS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) TIMOTHY KILLIAN, MEDIA LIAISON FOR LIFE CARE CENTER, SAYING: "The plan was to take each resident case by case. Some would be moved out temporarily while their room was being cleaned and others who might be in a more grave state, more delicate care would be taken to clean around them. I will say that one of the things that they are doing -- we're talked about the negative cases that are within the facility. One of the things that they're focusing on too is cleaning that wing of the facility so those negative patients can be moved in. And that is happening." LIFE CARE CENTER SIGN FLOWER BOUQUETS BY LIFE CARE CENTER SIGN SIGN LEFT BY LIFE CARE CENTER SIGN READING: "PRAYING FOR YOU"
  • Embargoed: 26th March 2020 01:19
  • Keywords: Hazmat Kirkland Life Care Center Seattle Washington state cleaning crews nursing home suits
  • Location: KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
  • City: KIRKLAND, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001C4M1747
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A cleaning crew decked out in white hazmat suits and face masks entered the Seattle-area nursing home on Wednesday (March 11) that has found itself at the epicenter of one of the biggest coronavirus outbreaks in the United States.
    Some 21 residents of the Life Care Center nursing home are believed to have died from the respiratory illness and the nursing home has said at least 65 employees had been showing symptoms.
    Timoth Killian, a spokesperson for the facility, explained how the cleaners would work around the elderly residents when the entered the nursing home on Wednesday.
    "The plan was to take each resident case by case. Some would be moved out temporarily while their room was being cleaned and others who might be in a more grave state, more delicate care would be taken to clean around them," he said.
    "I will say that one of the things that they are doing -- we're talked about the negative cases that are within the facility. One of the things that they're focusing on too is cleaning that wing of the facility so those negative patients can be moved in. And that is happening," he said.
    The cleaning of the Life Care Center Came as Washington Governor Jay Inslee banned gatherings of over 250 people and the largest public school district in Washington state announced a two-week closure.
    (Production: Omar Younis, Deborah Bloom)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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