Since Thursday, there have been 33 new cases of COVID-19 in nursing home residents, accompanied by five cases in workers. The outbreak at Brighton Rehabilitation could delay the southwest region from opening, state officials say.

BRIGHTON TWP. — The number of cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in local nursing homes jumped by 38 since Thursday, and local data indicates most, if not all, of those cases are at Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center.

The outbreak at the facility, the former county-owned Friendship Ridge nursing home, could delay when the entire southwest region will see state restrictions lifted.

During the past two days, state data indicates there were 32 new cases of COVID-19 in Beaver County nursing home residents and five new cases in employees for a total of 37 new nursing home cases. Countywide, there were 40 new cases, meaning only three were not at a nursing home or long-term care facility.

There are as many as 223 cases of COVID-19 at Brighton Rehab in Brighton Township.

In total, there are 225 cases of the virus in nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Beaver County. A resident at Rochester Manor in Rochester tested positive, as well as an employee at Concordia Villa St. Joseph in Baden. That employee has since recovered, facility officials said last week.

Administrators at Brighton Rehab did not return a request for comment. Officials at the facility have not issued a public statement about the outbreak since April 16, when they said that 50 percent of residents had recovered from the virus.

The facility has not publicly released information on the number of residents testing positive for COVID-19 since April 2.

According to ZIP code-based data released by the state, there are 223 cases of COVID-19 in the 15009 ZIP Code, where Brighton Rehab is located. That included a spike of 39 cases since Thursday.

State data indicates that 63 percent of COVID-19 cases in Beaver County are at a nursing home or long-term care facility. Approximately 85 percent of deaths related to the virus occurred in a nursing home, data indicates.

Those numbers could delay the southwest region reopening from Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order and closures of non-essential businesses. According to a Gannett analysis of state data, Beaver County is the only county in western Pennsylvania to fall below the state’s threshold of 50 new cases per 100,000 residents per day over 14 days.

On Saturday, Beaver County had 129 new cases per 100,000 residents during the past two weeks. If the number of cases at Brighton Rehab is removed, the county has just 24.5 new cases per 100,000 residents during that time.

Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health, said this week that counties will be grouped as regions for the purpose of reopening — and one county having a high or low new case rate won’t make them exempt from the action taken in that region.

"This is not going to be isolated county by county, we’re looking at the case rates for the region," Levine said.

Conceivably, that means that the outbreak at Brighton Rehab could cause the entire southwest region to remain under a stay-at-home order until that outbreak is under control.

Beaver County Commissioners Chairman Daniel Camp said that while he wants the county to open as soon as possible, safety and complying with state requirements is his main objective.

"I would love to see Beaver County be open, but at this time, we have to make sure we’re following what the Pennsylvania Department of Health

Levine said Thursday that the state will not remove nursing home outbreaks from consideration when looking at opening a county.

"It will be all places and all residents in a certain county. We know, however, that the long-term care facilities... are our most vulnerable populations. We need to do everything we can to protect them," Levine said. "The staff goes in and out of those facilities. If there is a hot spot in a community, a staff member could spread that."

Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning said he would hope the state changes its mind on that decision. He said he worries that small businesses will not be able to recover from a prolonged shut down.

"I believe that it is contained (at Brighton Rehab)," Manning said. "I could see us being able to start easing up on some businesses a little more, like the governor has been doing. Small businesses have been and are the lifeblood of the economy of Beaver County. I think the governor can do it, smartly and wisely."

Commissioner Tony Amadio said he’s a patient man and is fine with waiting if it means protecting as many people as possible from the virus.

"I don’t want to open up too soon — I’m happy where we are right now," Amadio said, noting that workers come and go from the facility and could potentially spread the virus at grocery stores and other public places if the county is reopened. "We all want to open up, when it’s safe. We have no control over it — its up to the governor to make those decisions."

Intelligencer staff writer Chris Ullery contributed to this report.