Nursing home surge
COVID-19 is creeping back into long-term care facilities.
As the coronavirus continues to spread through communities across Connecticut, the deadly virus is starting to creep back into long-term care facilities. Deaths have nearly quadrupled in two weeks, with 27 homes now reporting at least one new COVID-19 case.
During the week of Oct. 20-27, there were 85 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths among the state’s 214 nursing homes, according to the weekly state Department of Public Health data released Friday. Last week, there were 71 cases and 15 deaths. Two weeks ago the death total was five.
There have now been 2,944 COVID19 deaths in nursing homes since the pandemic began in March, about 64 percent of the total deaths in the state. If coronavirus deaths in assisted living facilities are included, it totals about 72 percent of all deaths.
The positive cases among long-term care staff also are going up. There were 92 infections this week, compared to 85 last week and 57 the week before. Earlier this week, acting-Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford issued an order requiring all long-term care staff to be tested weekly.
A number of the deaths have occurred in two facilities where the state and providers have had a difficult time curbing outbreaks — Avon Health Care Center, and Harrington Court in Colchester. Of the 19 new deaths this week, six were at the Avon facility and three were at Harrington.
Avon Health Center Director Tina
Richardson said Friday that the virus appears to be contained.
“The enhanced testing implemented with daily input from DPH epidemiology is showing no new resident cases since 10/16/2020, signifying that the spread is contained at this time,” Richardson said.
A new hot spot for nursing home cases appears to be Newington, where two facilities — Bel-Air Manor and the Jefferson House — have reported new cases. At Bel-Air Manor there were three deaths, while at Jefferson House there were 11 positive cases, but no deaths.
“As the number and rate of COVID-positive cases continues to rise in Connecticut, Hartford HealthCare is doing everything in our power to contain the spread of the virus and treat those infected,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar, chief clinical officer of Hartford HealthCare. “Jefferson House has seen an increase in the number of those testing positive for the coronavirus. We continue to take all precautions to ensure the safety of residents, staff and the community.”
Jefferson House is one of three long-term care facilities that saw a double-figure increase in COVID-19 cases. The other two were the Mattatuck Health Care Facility in Waterbury, which had 14 new cases; and Hebrew Center Health and Rehabilitation in West Hartford, which had 10 new cases.
In assisted living facilities, most of the new cases this week were attributed to an outbreak at the Geer Village in North Canaan which had 30 residents test positive for the virus and one death. All told there have been 41 infections there, according to executive director Kevin O’Connell.
“The virus is so contagious that even after everything we have been through we still can’t stop this thing,” O’Connell said.
Also on Friday, Gov. Ned Lamont announced the formation of a new working group consisting of legislators, providers and state employees that will review a consultant’s report on what happened in the spring that led to so many deaths in long-term care facilities.
The group, which will be chaired by state Rep. Toni Walker (D-New Haven), the House chair of the Appropriations Committee, and is expected to make recommendations to the legislature in January. The group held it’s first meeting Thursday.
“We’ve had dramatic experiences with our nursing homes,” Walker said. “We’ve lost lives both in residents who live in those homes and also in the staff that work there, and we’ve had many front line workers who have been infected, and we want to make sure we are taking everybody into account.”