Clare nursinghome outbreak grows to40
New death in Montcalm
Cases of COVID-19 increased at a Clare County nursing home by 10 over the weekend, making it one of the largest nursing home outbreaks in mid-michigan.
Seven more residents of North Woods Nursing Center, 2532 W. Cadillac Dr., in Farwell, tested positive for the disease, as did three more staff. It brings the number of people in the outbreak to 40. Two people — both elderly men — have died.
The only mid-michigan nursing home withmore cases associated with it is the Isabella County Medical Care Facility, with 41 cases. Of those, 24 involved residents and 17 have involved staff. That outbreak happened in April, and four of the residents infected died.
North Woods was the second Clare County nursing home to report COVID-19 cases within the span of a week. Another outbreak hit Medilodge of Clare, 600 SW 4th St., in clare, infecting six residents and two staff. That number hasn’t changed, suggesting that the outbreak is contained.
At least five people in both outbreaks have required hospitalization. Eight have died, half of them in the last two weeks.
Community spread of COVID-19 has been cited as the primary cause for outbreaks in nursing homes.
“The strongest predictor of whether or not we’ll see cases in [a particular setting] is community spread,” David C. Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, told the Washington Post in August. Grabowski specializes in long-term care “We saw that in the Northeast and now, unfortunately, we’re seeing it in the Sun Belt states.”
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to increase rapidly in Clare County. Over the weekend, they increased by 21 to a cumulative total of 196 confirmed cases. Since Friday, that is a daily average of seven new cases.
The county also has a cumulative total of 96 probable cases, cases where someone who had close contact with a covid-positive person develops symptoms.
Cases also increased in Isabella County by 21 over the weekend, bringing its cumulative total to 824, with another 109 cumulative probable cases.
That is also an average of seven new cases per day. Fifteen people have died in the county.
In Gratiot County, cases increased by 18, a threeday average of six. The county now has 348 cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19, with sixteen deaths.
Elsewhere in mid-michigan, Montcalm County’s eighth death was reported on Monday, and with 56 new cases over the weekend, the county’s cumulative total increases to 476.
In Mecosta County, another 51 cases w ere reported for a cumulative total of 373, with four deaths; 44 new cases were reported in mid land County for a cumulative total of 697, with 13 deaths; and two new cases were reported in Gladwin County for a cumulative total of 141, with two deaths.
Statewide, Another 2,909 cases were reported Monday.
Those are the totals for Sunday and Monday’s new cases, however, giving it a two- day average of 1,454. Cumulatively, Michigan has 147,806 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Another 21 deaths were reported for a total of 7,031. Michigan’s case fatality rate — the percentage of confirmed cases that end in death — has fallen to 4.8 percent. For much of April, May and June, it was higher than 10 percent.