Like in nursing homes around the Montana and country, the COVID spike has hit Butte’s Continental Care and Rehabilitation skilled nursing facility hard, according to an article on the Montana Standard website.

Sixty percent of the facility’s 53 residents and 20 percent of the staff have tested positive.

The facility has faced a significant shortage of staff due to COVID-19 infection. Under guidance from the state, the county health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Continental has resorted to extreme measures. 

The COVID-19 positive residents have been moved to one wing.  Some asymptomatic staff members who have tested positive have continued working with the COVID-19 positive patients.

“It’s crisis management,” according to Karen Maloughney, a county public health nurse who has worked closely with the facility. “It’s where we’re at. It’s unfortunate.”

Employees at other healthcare facility around the U.S. say they were asked to work even after testing positive for COVID-19, according to a September Miami Herald article.

The practice is allowed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when facilities face staff shortages. 

Read the full Montana Standard article.