In this undated photo provided by Outdoor Research in September 2020, a worker moves a box of surgical masks made by the company as they are manufactured and packaged in Seattle. Hospital administrators say they can’t get as many masks as they want, and the FDA included N95s on its most recent medical supply shortage list. (Gerardo Villalobos/Outdoor Research via AP)
In this undated photo provided by Outdoor Research in September 2020, a worker moves a box of surgical masks made by the company as they are manufactured and packaged in Seattle. Hospital administrators say they can’t get as many masks as they want, and the FDA included N95s on its most recent medical supply shortage list. (Gerardo Villalobos/Outdoor Research via AP) Credit: Gerardo Villalobos

A direct-care worker at Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland has been diagnosed with COVID-19 as cases in the Monadnock Region continue to surge.

This is the second infection among employees at the county-owned facility, which suspended guest visits last week after a part-time staff member tested positive for the novel coronavirus. That person does not work in residential units and had no recent contact with residents, Cheshire County Administrator Christopher Coates said last week.

Cheshire County government learned of the latest positive result Monday during its ongoing effort to test Maplewood residents and staff, Coates said in a news release that evening. The current round of testing will be completed by Wednesday, he said.

Coates said the direct-care staffer works in residential units at the facility and has not displayed symptoms of COVID-19. The county does not believe the two employee cases are related, according to the release.

All Maplewood staff and residents will be tested this week as a result of the latest positive test, Coates said Tuesday morning. He said all staff and a limited number of residents were tested last week.

No residents had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday, Coates said.

As of last Thursday, long-term care settings had accounted for about 20% of New Hampshire’s total cases and more than 80% of its deaths, according to state health data.

State officials announced an outbreak at the Prospect-Woodward assisted-living facility, part of the Hillside Village campus in Keene, that day. Eight residents and two employees had tested positive as of Thursday, N.H. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette said at a news conference that afternoon.

Coates said in the release Monday that Maplewood Nursing Home is “well-positioned” to prevent community transmission of the virus.

“While we understand this may be distressing to hear, the good news is all of the precautions we have implemented to date will assist us to mitigate the spread further and protect both staff and resident’s safety,” he said.

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