2 dead, dozens ill from outbreak at Virginia retirement home

SPRINGFIELD, Va. – Virginia health department officials say two people have died and 20 more have been hospitalized by a respiratory virus outbreak at a large retirement community.

The Fairfax County Health Department said Friday that 55 of the 263 residents at the Greenspring Retirement Community in Springfield, Virginia, have fallen ill during the outbreak. Over the past two weeks, the ill residents displayed symptoms such as coughs, fevers, and pneumonia.

Health department officials say they’ve quarantined sections of the building thought to contain the infection. Greenspring is not accepting new residents as the outbreak is investigated.

Health department spokesman Benjamin Schwartz said the two patients who died had been hospitalized with pneumonia but were “older individuals with complex medical problems.”