TROY, Pa. — The Bradford County Manor, a nursing home and rehabilitation center near Troy, has been hit hard by COVID-19.
According to its website, the care facility has had cumulative totals of 102 residents, and 47 staff members test positive for the virus in the past few weeks.
"It's very sad, and now I wish them the best. Everyone has to be careful, but we can't live in fear," said Lisa Campbell of Troy.
"Seeing it just affect innocent people really breaks my heart, and also the fact that it just goes to show that nursing home conditions are so terrible," said Madelyn Stalter of Troy.
The new cases at the Bradford County Manor make up about 30 percent of the county's recent spike in cases.
"Up here, I feel like no one is scared of it, and I feel like that is really an issue in why the numbers are spiking," said Stalter.
Folks in Troy tell Newswatch 16 that it is concerning to see the number of positive cases back on the rise in Bradford County.
"It's like people aren't looking at the data. It's not a downward curve anymore. It's going back up, and it's getting way worse, so it's scary to see the misinformation and people actually thinking we are getting better, but we're not," said Stalter.
"It is concerning to me, you know, I have family that have immune suppressant diseases, so it is concerning, but we are going to take precautions, and like I said, we are not going to live our life in fear," said Campbell.
Since mid-September, cases in Bradford County have been on the rise, with sometimes as many as 35 cases per day. To put that in perspective, the county is reporting almost seven times the number of positive cases than it was in April and May.
"It's just heartbreaking to see people my age not take it seriously, and I've noticed being in this rural area that people aren't taking it too seriously," said Stalter.
Currently, Bradford County is the second-highest county in our viewing area for COVID-19 hospitalizations with 34, despite its smaller population sizes in the state.