(This story was updated at 5:20 p.m. to correct the name of the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.)
The outbreak of COVID-19 at the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs center in Claremore has grown since first being announced by the agency in July.
According to Shane Faulkner, ODVA's public information officer, 128 residents are now confirmed to have tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of Wednesday. 35 of those residents have died.
The agency has previously said that the death total counts those who have died after a positive test for the virus, and that it may not have been the direct cause of death.
In addition to the residents, Faulkner said 61 employees have tested positive.
ODVA has not held a press conference about the Claremore outbreak since July 28th, when the agency's executive director, Joel Kintsel, said 10 residents had died that month. At the time, Hartsel said the virus was believed to have been inadvertantly brought into the facility by an asymptomatic staff member.
Bill Richey, post commander for Claremore's Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) #2976, said his group is typically very involved in activities and visits at the center, but that he has struggled to get information about the outbreak.
"They're pretty closed-lipped," said Richey, who told Public Radio Tulsa he hadn't heard about further deaths since the announcement of 10 in July. "We try to stay as close as we can to them, but they don't even tell us. It's not for lack of trying."
"It's sad to see," said Richey, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. "I know when I go back and start playing bingo with them again, we're not going to see a lot of them, you know. It just isn't going to happen."
"All I know is what I read in the paper, because they haven't let any of us up there," said Geraldine Brown, president of the Claremore VFW Auxiliary. "It's been closed to people who have families up there and all."
Keith Austin represents District 14, which includes Claremore, in the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council. He said the Claremore center serves veterans from all over Oklahoma, and that he only personally knows of one local veteran, a Cherokee elder, who had passed away in the facility.
"What we do know is that every one of them is someone who gave part of their life to defending the United States of America," Austin said. "Every person who's died has done that. They've died at their most vulnerable time in life from this disease."
"This is a scary, scary thing when we get into communal living situations for our elders," Austin said. "It's a scary, scary environment. It can create such a wildfire in a community of people who dont have the resistance to it."
Faulkner said Wednesday that the ODVA and the entire staff at the center are working around the clock and doing the best they can to manage the outbreak and continue routine care, and are receiving help from the Oklahoma State Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
"We have people working harder than anyone should ever be asked to do," Faulkner said of ODVA staff. "It’s so easy to get their morale hit. When we show up in the news, so often it’s because of something bad happening at one of the centers, when the other 364 days of the year we’re doing amazing things."
The agency provided the following statement:
"The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) continues in its vigilance to provide high quality care for resident veterans to prevent and treat COVID-19 cases at the Claremore Veterans Center. We are grateful for extraordinary support and partnerships with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (Muskogee and Oklahoma City Health Care Systems) and the Oklahoma State Department of Health who have stepped forward by volunteering resources and expertise during recent occurrences of positive cases.
Communication with Claremore residents and the residents’ designated agents or family representatives continues to take place via weekly letters which are supplemented by phone, email, or letter communications as needed. The Claremore Veterans Center will maintain regular correspondence for as long as the pandemic response continues. ODVA extends sincere appreciation for the understanding of residents and families of protective measures in place.
This has been a trying time, but we believe the resiliency of our residents together with the hard work and dedication put forth by the staff at the Claremore Veterans Center will be what sees our heroes through this awful virus."
