MOSES LAKE – An additional 19 staff members at a Moses Lake nursing home have tested positive for the coronavirus since an outbreak was reported Friday, a spokesperson wrote in an email Tuesday.

The first positive tests at Lake Ridge Center on East Plumb Street were collected in late October and identified staff who had been infected with the coronavirus, wrote Theresa Adkinson, administrator for the Grant County Health District, in an email. Additional positive test results among staff and residents continued to come in through early November.

On Nov. 20, health district officials reported 49 residents and 12 staff at Lake Ridge had tested positive for the coronavirus, among other outbreaks in Moses Lake and Soap Lake long-term care facilities.

As of yesterday, that number has increased to 49 residents and 31 staff, said Lori Mayer, vice president of Genesis Healthcare, which owns a portion of Lake Ridge Center.

Lake Ridge has proactively been testing all patients, residents and staff weekly since early September, and has been working to meet or exceed federal safety guidelines during the pandemic, Mayer wrote.