Eight people are dead and just shy of 100 more have become infected with COVID-19 after an outbreak at a Connecticut nursing home.
The outbreak at the Geer Village Senior Community, a nursing home and rehabilitation center in Canaan, started around the beginning of October when the nursing home was reporting three positive COVID-19 cases.
Now, eight residents have died, and 67 residents and 22 staff members caught COVID-19 sometime in the past month and a half. Nursing home officials said 48 residents and 21 staff members have recovered from the virus.
The state Department of Public Health said they're monitoring and providing on-site consultation at this facility.
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"Family members of residents in long-term care facilities should also encourage their loved ones being cared for in these facilities to get a booster vaccine," a spokesperson for the DPH said.
The nursing and rehab center houses only 70 residents and all eight people who died has serious underlying health issues.
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Of the 89 total infections, 87 people were fully vaccinated, the nursing home said.
"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," officials said.
All visits will continue to remain on hold because of the outbreak; anyone who wishes to see their loved ones can do so virtually or through window visits.
"Despite the highly infectious nature of this disease, our employees were able to protect their residents, themselves, and their families through the initial peak of this pandemic. They did this during a time when we least understood Covid-19 and struggled to find the supplies and funding to persevere as the virus spread. We are tremendously proud of our employees for their dedication to the people we care for," Geer Village Senior Community CEO Kevin O'Connell said in a statement.
Anyone whose loved one tests positive for coronavirus or becomes symptomatic will be notified.
"Our priority is always the health and safety of the staff and residents at Geer. We are saddened to see some in the Geer family become ill. We pray for their speedy recovery and continue to do everything in our power to minimize the risk across all our operations,” O’Connell said.
Residents and staff will become eligible for the booster shot when the community has gone two full weeks without any new COVID-19 cases, they said. For more information on the outbreak, click here.
