About 80 percent of residents at a San Antonio nursing home are infected with the novel coronavirus after 59 more people tested positive, officials said Thursday.

At Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 66 of 84 residents currently are infected, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said.

The number, which the mayor called “devastating,” was a steep increase from Wednesday, when 14 people connected to the facility, including six workers, were confirmed to have the coronavirus.

Another resident, a man in his 80s who also contracted the virus, died earlier this week.

In all, the outbreak of the highly contagious virus has infected a total of 73 people connected with the 116-bed facility on the Southeast Side.

The Metropolitan Health District is conducting a contact tracing investigation to determine how the virus was introduced.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio nursing home at center of coronavirus outbreak recently cited for infection control problems

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff called the rate of infection “disturbing.”

“That’s an incredibly high number,” he said. “This is troublesome, that this is happening in one nursing home.”

Eleven residents have tested negative, two tests came back inconclusive and four are pending. No new infections among the nursing home staff were announced.

The nursing home, which has fallen far short of federal standards on staffing levels and health inspections, recently was cited for failing to adhere to proper infection control protocols and medically neglecting a resident. Federal regulators have rated its performance one out of five stars, the lowest score possible.

In October, they cited the facility after two nursing assistants failed to wash their hands after cleaning a resident’s rectal area and patted the person dry with a contaminated towel. Another resident’s oxygen tubing was improperly stored, a violation that put those receiving oxygen support at the facility at risk of respiratory infections.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio has more than 100 coronavirus cases. The actual number is likely higher.

Nirenberg said the city would be keeping a close eye for similar problems at 48 underperforming nursing homes in the city that have overall ratings of 1 to 3 stars from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“We are making a large number of visits, frequent visits, to those facilities,” he said.

He added that officials have looked into Advanced Rehab and Healthcare of Live Oak, another center operated by the nursing home’s parent company, Advanced Healthcare Solutions, and found no problems.

San Antonio officials said red flags were first raised about Southeast Nursing after there was an uptick in transports from the facility. As of Wednesday, six residents had been taken to hospitals. Those not in need of urgent medical care are isolated at the nursing home.

Officials here began monitoring ambulance traffic at local nursing homes after a coronavirus outbreak at a Washington state facility killed dozens of people.

Nursing homes across the country have closed their doors to visitors, due to their residents’ susceptibility to complications of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus.

On Thursday, the number of coronavirus cases attributed to community transmission in San Antonio surpassed travel-related cases for the first time.

“We’re in a period of community spread that you can’t ignore,” Nirenberg said. “We should assume that the virus is in every corner of the city, whether or not we have data to prove it.”

Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Lauren, become a subscriber. lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba | Marina Starleaf Riker is an investigative reporter for the San Antonio Express-News with extensive experience covering affordable housing, inequality and disaster recovery. To read more from Marina, become a subscriber. marina.riker@express-news.net | Twitter: @MarinaStarleaf