A Morgantown nursing home is battling an outbreak of COVID-19, announcing that at least 51 of its residents and staff have tested positive for the potentially fatal respiratory disease.

Signature HealthCARE, which is affiliated with Morgantown Care and Rehabilitation Center, said Sunday it had received confirmation that 29 residents and 22 staff had tested positive for the coronavirus at its Morgantown location.

“This comes after the facility was fortunate to obtain enough of the highly sought after and reliable COVID-19 tests,” the health care company said in a news release, adding it opted to test the entire facility out of an abundance of caution.

“Nearly all resident positive cases are asymptomatic or mild, and after consultation with physicians and the local health department, will be treated in house,” the release said. “All staff who tested positive will not be permitted to return to work without special and verified medical clearance.”

Expecting an uptick in cases in the region, Signature HealthCARE also said it transitioned part of its Morgantown facility to one of the few units in the region that exclusively treats COVID-19 patients.

The unit “will house all positive COVID-19 residents,” the company said. More severe cases will be transferred to area hospitals “as warranted and directed by the residents’ physicians,” it said.

Butler County Judge-Executive Tim Flener announced the news in a Facebook post Sunday, identifying the facility as the community’s nursing home.

“I ask you to please keep the staff and residents in your prayers,” he wrote in the post.

Meanwhile, Gov. Andy Beshear announced earlier Sunday that after weeks of competing against other states – and even the federal government – for personal protective equipment, Kentucky is ramping up its efforts to test for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

During his daily briefing in Frankfort, Beshear announced a new partnership with Kroger that will enable the state to add new testing locations in coming weeks and potentially “almost double the amount of testing we have right now.”

Through the partnership, which also includes UPS and the Gravity Diagnostics medical laboratory, Kroger will provide medical staff, personal protective equipment and an online sign-up portal available at kroger health.com/covidtesting.

Free testing will begin Monday in Frankfort, but an additional location will be announced this week and others in coming weeks. Between Monday and Thursday each week, up to 250 people each day will be able to get self-administered COVID-19 nasal swabs.

Testing will be reserved for health care workers, first responders and those age 65 and older or with chronic health conditions. Results should be available in 48 hours, organizers said.

“I’m very excited about this,” Beshear said, adding the state has been in talks with Kroger for weeks to make the new effort possible.

“Kroger is not charging the state a penny for this,” he added.

Meanwhile, Beshear announced 134 new confirmed cases Sunday in Kentucky, bringing the state’s total to 1,963. Setting aside duplicates and reporting errors from the state, that’s up from Saturday’s statewide total of 1,840 confirmed cases.

Beshear also announced Sunday three new deaths related to the virus, bringing the total number of people killed to 97 in Kentucky. More than 25,000 people have been tested to date.

Beshear’s briefing Sunday also brought the announcement of new cases in the Barren River region.

Beshear announced one new case of COVID-19 in Warren County. It was not immediately clear, however, whether the case is in addition to the county totals most recently reported Friday by the Barren River District Health Department. The department’s next local update is expected Monday.

On Friday, the health department reported a total of 84 total cases in its eight-county district. They include at least one case in Hart County, five in Barren County, 11 in Butler County, six in Edmonson County, four in Logan County, 15 in Simpson County and 42 in Warren County. Metcalfe County did not have any reported cases as of Friday.

– Daily News multimedia reporter Emily Zantow contributed to this story.

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @BGDN_edbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.