1 dead, 50 sick in outbreak at two Avon nursing homes
Unclear if cases have spread to surrounding communities
A coronavirus outbreak at a pair of assisted living facilities just a few miles apart in Avon has left one dead and upwards of 50 infected as the virus again appears to be surging across Connecticut.
Health officials believe the outbreak started with a resident at The Residence at Brookside in late September and may have spread to Avon Health Care by way of health care workers employed at both facilities, according to Farmington Valley Health District Director Jennifer C. Kertanis.
“As best we can figure out through contact tracing, there was a resident who tested positive at Brookside and then it spread to the other facility through two health care workers who had been exposed to the first patient,” Kertanis said.
The outbreak at the Avon facilities comes as infections and hospitalizations are on the rise in Connecticut after several months of low numbers. The state reported a positive test rate Tuesday of 2.4% — the highest single-day total since
June 12.
It is unclear at this point if the case at the assisted living facilities have spread into Avon or other surrounding communities.
“We have reviewed our outbreak response with the Connecticut Department of Public Health epidemiology division and are following their recommendations,” said Tina L. Richardson, the administrator at Avon Health.
“We have been following CDC and DPH Infection Control guidance at all times including contact tracing to identify the source of the virus. Upon noting a rise in community spread, we increased our testing of residents and staff,” she added.
“Given the presence of COVID in the facility, we have discontinued in person visitation and are cohorting affected residents on one unit to contain further spread of the virus.”
Officials at Brookside could not be reached for comment.
As of Tuesday, there were 11 residents infected at Brookside, where an 86-year-old man died. At Avon Health Care, there were 24 residents infected and 16 staff members infected.
There also are infections among the staff at Brookside, but Kertanis didn’t have an exact number.
Brookside currently has 45 residents, while the Avon Health Center has 98, according to state Department of Public Health data.
Kertanis said there are at least two health care workers who have tested positive that also worked at both facilities.
They may have been exposed to the first resident at Brookside, who was infected on either Sept. 28 or 29, Kertanis said.
Health officials are still working to contain the outbreak. All the residents at Avon Health Center were tested Tuesday and staff will be tested Wednesday. Brookside residents and staff were tested Monday.
“We will have a better sense of how much it has spread once we get the test results in but I don’t think we have it under control yet,” Kertanis said. “It started with one resident and has spread very fast.”
Brookside had been COVID-free until this outbreak. The state Department of Public Health numbers released last Thursday showed they had nine cases, all during the week of Sept. 29-Oct. 6. Avon Health Care has had 51 cases and 10 deaths, but all of those had occurred before July, according to DPH data.
The outbreak in Avon is the latest in long-term care facilities in the past few weeks as COVID cases have started to climb again across Connecticut.
The other two outbreaks were at nursing homes in Norwich and Colchester, communities where there has been an increase in cases over the past few weeks.
DPH officials believe the outbreak at Three Rivers Healthcare in Norwich was caused by a nursing supervisor who brought the virus into the facility after a beach vacation to Rhode Island. DPH officials eventually closed the facility and moved all remaining residents to other facilities.
Officials haven’t said what caused the Colchester outbreak, where five residents died.