GRANITE FALLS, N.C. — A Caldwell County skilled nursing facility is facing its second COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Caldwell County Health Department: 151 people have tested positive for COVID-19 at the facility.
Since December, 49 staff and 102 patients have tested positive for COVID-19 at Hickory Falls Health and Rehabilitation in Granite Falls.
There are still 13 active cases at the facility.
Paige Counts, Caldwell County's spokeswoman, said the facility notified the state, but it didn't notify county public health leaders of its case count, even though the health department invited every local nursing home to a weekly conference call.
"Those cases were discovered when we went back through the state database and recognized there were a number of cases," Counts said.
She said some places have invited public health workers in to review their procedures, but she wasn't sure if Hickory Falls was one of the facilities.
"The more we understand the facilities, the needs they have, the better we can serve them," Counts said.
The county doesn't administer vaccines to nursing homes as the federal government contracts that task out to CVS and Walgreens.
There are no publicly-available numbers available for how many people in specific nursing homes, like Hickory Falls, got vaccinated.
The interactive graphic below shows total COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 deaths at Charlotte-area nursing homes by county, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. For a full break-down of staff cases and deaths, resident cases and deaths, and individual cases per nursing home facility, click here.
Charles Kelley's 85-year-old brother-in-law, Jason Cox, lives at Hickory Falls, and he said Cox hasn't gotten the virus nor been vaccinated.
"I've been texting him," Kelley said. "He's not had his shots and everything."
Kelley and his dog visited the facility Tuesday afternoon.
Visitors aren't allowed inside so he spoke to his brother-in-law through a window.
"Well, it's better than nothing at all," Kelley said. "He's in good spirits today. He was a little down last week when I come up, but he's in good spirits today."
The facility is licensed for 120 beds, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services division of health service regulation.
Hickory Falls' administrator declined to comment on the facility's COVID-19 cluster.
According to the Caldwell County Health Department, more than 19,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in the county.
Have a relative or friend in another state and want to know when they can get vaccinated? Visit NBC News' Plan Your Vaccine site to find out about each state's vaccine rollout plan.