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Seminole retirement community surpasses 30 deaths tied to COVID-19 outbreak

Six residents of Freedom Square of Seminole have died in recent days, according to medical examiner records.
 
Ambulances line the entrance to the Seminole campus of the Freedom Square retirement community on April 17 to evacuate residents who tested positive for COVID-19. The facility has had one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks in the state and surpassed 30 deaths Monday.
Ambulances line the entrance to the Seminole campus of the Freedom Square retirement community on April 17 to evacuate residents who tested positive for COVID-19. The facility has had one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks in the state and surpassed 30 deaths Monday. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]
Published May 11, 2020|Updated May 12, 2020

A Seminole retirement community with one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks in the state surpassed 30 deaths Monday.

Six more residents of Freedom Square of Seminole died in recent days, according to recently released reports from the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner’s Office.

That brings the total to 30 residents and one employee who have died as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a Tampa Bay Times count of medical examiner reports. The retirement community at 7800 Liberty Lane includes nursing, assisted living and independent living facilities.

Related: Pinellas County evacuates 15 coronavirus patients from two nursing homes

The latest residents ranged in age from 73 to 99. Four died on Wednesday — two of them 20 minutes apart — and two on Thursday.

The medical examiner reports gave the following summaries:

• Ruth Schneiter, 94, was taken from Freedom Square to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater on April 13 with shortness of breath, cough and a fever. She tested positive for COVID-19 on April 30. She was moved to the hospital’s intensive care unit on May 3, where she was diagnosed with a stroke. She died three days later.

• Russell Douton, 92, had similar symptoms when he was taken to Morton Plant Hospital, where he tested positive for the virus. His health declined and his family moved him to Suncoast Hospice North Pinellas, where he was pronounced dead May 6. Douton had a history atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart failure.

• Bonita McCarthy, 73, was taken April 11 to Largo Medical Center with flu-like symptoms and shortness of breath. She tested positive for the virus that day and again on April 24. McCarthy was intubated April 13 and stayed on a ventilator until May 5. She was pronounced dead the next day. Her medical history included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

• Doris Branch, 87, was taken April 21 to Morton Plant Hospital with shortness of breath, fever, weakness and cough. She tested positive for the virus that day. She was placed on oxygen and died May 6. Branch’s medical history included uterine cancer, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation and Bell’s Palsy.

• Theresa Szubartowski, 99, was taken to Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg on April 16. She tested negative for the virus twice but was diagnosed with several small strokes and respiratory distress. She was transferred April 24 to a rehabilitation hospital. She tested positive for the virus May 5 and died two days later. Her health history includes advanced dementia, cerebrovascular disease and heart failure.

• Verne Strible, 99, was taken April 27 to Morton Plant Hospital, where he tested positive for the virus. He was doing well and showing minimal symptoms until May 5, when he got a fever and went into respiratory failure. He died two days later. Strible’s medical history includes high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation.

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The Times has tracked how many infected people are dying in Pinellas’ long-term care facilities because the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner’s Office is releasing its death investigations in response to public records requests.

Hillsborough’s medical examiner is providing the Times with a spreadsheet of COVID-19 deaths — but it does not list who were residents of that county’s long-term care facilities.

Related: Florida records 14 more coronavirus deaths

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