Fifty-one residents and six staff members at Cedar Mountain Post Acute Rehabilitation have tested positive for COVID-19, in an outbreak at the Yucaipa nursing home that has led to the deaths of two residents, San Bernardino County public health officials announced Tuesday.

An 89-year-old woman with underlying health issues who resided at the facility died on Thursday. A second resident who contracted the virus died Monday. Officials did not provide details about the second patient.

The announcement comes one day after The Desert Sun reported that a resident's daughter said the facility informed her of the outbreak, but county officials and facility managers declined to confirm the location.

San Bernardino County Health Director Trudy Raymundo said Tuesday that while it is still the department's policy not to identify outbreak locations out of respect to patients, in this case the department "figured the whole community already knew."

The county first announced the outbreak on Saturday, reporting 12 cases and one death.

Raymundo provided a more detailed timeline of the outbreak during a press briefing Tuesday outside Yucaipa City Hall.

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After the 89-year-old woman with underlying health issues who resided at Cedar Mountain tested positive for the virus and died Thursday, she said, the county advised closing the facility to any admissions or discharges, and facility managers complied.

The county confirmed that three additional residents tested positive on Friday and tested the remaining residents and staff over the weekend. Of 79 tests from the facility, a total of 57 were positive as of noon Tuesday, Raymundo said.

County officials also tested residents of a nursing facility in Mentone, following reports that a patient there had symptoms of the disease. The county reported no positive cases from that facility.

Bonnie Casey, whose 74-year-old mother is a resident at Cedar Mountain, told The Desert Sun that someone from the facility called to inform her of the coronavirus outbreak three days after a patient died.

Shannon Dean, whose 69-year-old father, James Dean, is a resident at Cedar Mountain, told The Desert Sun Monday that facility staff had not informed her or her other family members of the outbreak.

Raymundo said the county works with facilities to inform residents of potential exposure. In cases like this, she said, they rely on the facility to inform patients and family members since staff members have already established personal relationships.

Older adults and those with underlying medical conditions are at elevated risk for serious complications from COVID-19. And nursing homes are considered a "perfect-storm environment" for the virus due to the age of residents, many of whom have underlying chronic health conditions, and because facilities are often ill-equipped to prevent the spread of infection within their walls and beyond.

Casey told The Desert Sun that Cedar Mountain residents are being kept isolated in their rooms. All employees are now wearing masks, gowns and gloves, Casey said, but the residents are not.

On the nursing home's website, a COVID-19 message informs residents and their families that the facility’s staff has taken measures to address the pandemic, including increased cleaning protocols and closing the facility to visitors. The facility made tablet computers available to residents to allow them to conduct video chats with loved ones and launched a message portal where family members could send messages.

The 95-bed facility has a two-out-of-five stars health inspection rating and a two-out-of-five staff rating, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report.

The facility received four health citations during its last inspection in December 2019; the state average is 13.

Desert Sun reporter Nicole Hayden covers health and health care in the Coachella Valley. She can be reached at Nicole.Hayden@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4623. Follow her on Twitter @Nicole_A_Hayden. Rebecca Plevin reports on immigration for The Desert Sun. Reach her at rebecca.plevin@desertsun.com. Follow her on Twitter at @rebeccaplevin.