LEWISTON, Maine — An outbreak at the Russell Park Rehabilitation and Living Center in Lewiston has now claimed the lives of three residents and grown to include 129 cases, including 64 residents.
That number is up dramatically from Monday, when the Maine Centers for Disease Control reported 72 cases including 45 residents, 27 employees and one vendor.
Maine CDC Spokesperson Robert Long confirmed the deaths and the case count Friday morning.
The 103-bed facility houses 94 residents, the Sun Journal reported.
Dr. Nirav Shah said two rounds of testing were underway, one Monday and another scheduled for Tuesday, and the results would provide "a better sense of how that outbreak has evolved within the facility."
Shah said on Monday that a resident had showed the first symptoms at the facility, but added, "We haven't identified yet specifically which staff member may have been the first to introduce it."
In a statement released Monday, North Country Associates in Lewiston, which owns Russell Park, said the facility discovered the outbreak on Nov. 3 and that most people who have tested positive have mild or no symptoms, the Sun Journal reported.
Mary Jane Richards, chief operating officer of North Country Associates, did not immediately return a phone call or email seeking information.
No further information was immediately available from the Maine CDC, but Shah is scheduled to give a press briefing at 2 p.m. Friday.