A 108-year-old woman passed away in a New Jersey nursing home on April 11, according to multiple reports.
A family member told the Newark Star-Ledger that Ollie Edwards is believed to be the state’s oldest victim of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
She passed away at the Delaire nursing home in Linden, New Jersey at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The New York Post reported that her family has yet to receive an official confirmation that Edwards died from COVID-19 or related complications.
“It’s hurtful because we weren’t even notified. They hid it from us. They moved her [to a] room away from everybody else because when you have a virus, they isolate you,” Tanisha Edwards, one of Edwards’s granddaughters told the Post.
“Her whole floor had the virus. You don’t do that. We paid you to do good for our relative,” Tanisha said.
Another grandchild, April Edwards-Thompson, told the Post that her grandmother was a very strong woman.
“I am very saddened. I cannot be with her and celebrate her life the way we want to,” Edwards-Thompson said.
“It was a true blessing to have her as my grandmother. Over 108 years, she was a phenomenal force in our family. Her house was where we all gathered together, enjoying each other’s company and her cooking, especially her cakes and pies. Oh how we wished she could live forever,” Edwards-Thompson said. “Grandma Ollie will be truly missed by everyone.”
Ollie’s great-granddaughter, Tan Edwards, a police officer in Clifton, New Jersey, told the post she was greatly saddened at not being able to protect her great-grandmother from the virus.
“Great grandmother, when I took my oath of honor, you were so proud of me. In the oath, I honor to protect and serve, and I am so brokenhearted that I was not able to protect you from COVID-19,” Tan said.
Before her death, Edwards was battling an abundance of other health issues, including dementia, the news outlet reported.
She was also reported to have had several hip surgeries, in addition to other issues like hearing and vision loss as a result of her old age.
The Star-Ledger reported that Ollie Edwards used to say, “I’m the captain of this ship, you are just a passenger, sit back and take a ride. I may be old, but I ain’t cold.”
The local outlet reported that since 2014, her family had been visiting Edwards daily in the nursing home.
According to NJToday.net, state health officials were asked by Mayor Derek Armstead to conduct an investigation at Delaire nursing home after various reports emerged about the facility’s handling of COVID-19 cases.
On March 16, a former employee said that staff at the facility had been told by administrators that a client who had been transferred to hospital had since been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Owner of AristaCare Health Services, the company that operates Delaire and 13 other nursing homes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Sidney Greenberger, told the Philadelphia Inquirer in March of the threat posed by the pandemic to the vulnerable in nursing homes: “I’m scared s—less, and that’s the honest truth.”
He said the prospect of the the CCP virus turning nursing homes into “death traps” for his residents was “terrifying.”
AristaCare has introduced measures to reduce the spread of the CCP virus. However, NJToday.net reported that the Delaire facility was reported to be experiencing staff shortages due to employees leaving their jobs. One worker alleged that the nursing home was not providing enough personal protective equipment
The worker also alleged that Delaire was not providing staff adequate personal protective equipment. NTD has not been able to verify these claims.
New Jersey officials confirmed on Monday 252 COVID-19-related deaths over the weekend for residents of New Jersey nursing homes. There were 64,584 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state and 2,443 deaths as of Monday.
Fox News reported that Edwards is survived by 15 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.
