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COVID-19 outbreaks at Bay Area senior living facilities
Henry Lee reports.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (BCN) - At least two deaths related to the coronavirus have been reported at an assisted living facility in Redwood City.
The development comes as the Alameda County District Attorney's Office is investigating a nursing home in Hayward where at least 13 residents have died.
"The district attorney is looking to see if there's criminal negligence in this situation," said Michael Cardoza, a criminal defense attorney and KTVU legal analyst.
Cardoza said the district attorney's office will determine whether Gateway Care & Rehabilitation Center in Hayward forced sick staff members to treat residents.
Prosecutors and inspectors with the DA's consumer protection division have experience looking into safety at long-term care facilities, said spokeswoman Teresa Drenick.
"They want to know, has this facility sent people in knowing that they're infected with the virus?" Cardoza said,
Another question is whether Gateway staff had proper safety gear and did enough to separate the sick from the healthy.
"How are they treating their patients? Have they isolated them sufficiently?" Cardoza said.
Cardoza said it might be a challenge to prosecute Gateway, especially with so many unknowns about COVID-19. But he said if criminal charges are filed, it will become a "battle of experts."
"Experts will come in, doctors will come in and say this facility did all they could," Cardoza said. "DA's experts will say, 'No they didn't. Here's where they failed.' "
Across the Bay in San Mateo County, KTVU has learned of at least 2 deaths at Gordon Manor in Redwood City.
One man learned Thursday that his 95-year-old mother had died after testing positive for coronavirus.
KTVU requested a comment from Gordon Manor but did not get a response. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said his office has not opened an investigation into nursing-home deaths at this point.
Health officials say at least two dozen people overall have died from COVID-19 in San Mateo County. But they're not providing a breakdown of where they passed.