COVID outbreak at Connecticut nursing home leaves 8 dead, 89 infected
A Connecticut nursing home has moved into recovery mode after suffering an outbreak of COVID-19. Geer Village said that the outbreak, which started in September, left eight residents dead and 89 residents and staff members infected.
The North Canaan-based facility, which includes independent and assisted living among other services, said it conducts bi-weekly testing on residents and staff. In a statement, Director of Nursing Cady Bloodgood and Chief Executive Officer Kevin O'Connell said they are continuing to "monitor the situation closely."
"Sadly, we have lost 8 residents with serious underlying health issues to COVID," the facility said on Friday. "We are encouraged to see 69 staff and residents already recovered and coming off isolation. While we must continue with COVID-19 prevention protocols, we want to assure everyone we are doing our best to keep residents and staff safe."
From October 27 to November 9, the state reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 among residents at Geer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and 10 new confirmed cases among staff members. Across the state, there were 45 new cases among nursing home residents, and 54 new cases among staff members during that time frame, state data shows.
As COVID-19 booster shots continue to roll out across the country, the company said that its nursing residents and staff will only be eligible to receive their shot when they get through two full weeks with no new positive cases.
Geer Village first publicly announced its outbreak on October 3, at which time it identified three positive cases of COVID-19 among residents and staff, all of whom the company says were fully vaccinated.
Nursing homes have been particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. California, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas have been the hardest hit states regarding nursing home COVID deaths, with each experiencing more than 8,800 resident deaths, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Nationwide, nursing home COVID deaths peaked in December 2020. Cases and deaths have stayed comparatively low since that time; however, a surge in cases developed in mid-July, and case rates have yet to hit a pandemic low, CMMS data shows.