BORDER STATE OUTBREAK: N.M. rehab center under quarantine after many residents catch Norovirus

12/23/2014

One South Valley rehabilitation center is on lockdown and not allowing visitors. The Rio at Las Estancias has been under quarantine since the evening of Dec. 11 and one resident’s daughter is concerned she won’t be able to see her mother for the holidays.

"We want to see my mom for Christmas. Christmas is coming up. Are we going to see my mom for Christmas?” said the woman who wished to remain anonymous, for fear of retaliation against her mother.

She said the center called her the evening of Dec. 11th, and told her the place was under quarantine, but she said they didn’t name the illness that was going around.

"That's all they told us…it's a stomach virus, and to stay in her room and we're not allowed to see her," she said.

The woman told KOB her daughter had visited the facility the day before the quarantine went into effect, and got really sick.

"She started to throw up a lot and she had a lot of stomach pain. She was in a lot of pain,” said the woman. 

Since Dec. 11, the woman said she's called often, and they still won't let her see her mom. When KOB called the center Sunday, a receptionist told us the place was under quarantine because almost all of the residents and many employees had caught the Norovirus. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Norovirus is very contagious, and is the most common cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the United States. It leads to vomiting and diarrhea.     

Fortunately, this woman's mother didn't get the Norovirus, but she said the 10-day quarantine has caused her mother to miss an important doctor's visit.

"I’m very frustrated. I don't how they're treating her. What's going on? All I can do is call her and most of the time she's medicated.”

Since her mother missed that doctor’s visit, she fears her mom could now face a life-altering complication with her illness.

The Rio at Las Estancias isn't the only place that's been under quarantine. The Princeton Place Retirement Home in northeast Albuquerque was also limiting visits back on Dec. 4, after two of its patients got the Norovirus.

The Princeton Place Retirement Home lifted its quarantine on Dec. 15. The receptionist at the Rio at Las Estancias said they will be lifting their quarantine on Dec. 22, after 11 days.

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