Name: Coronavirus outbreak at Colchester nursing home has infected more than 50 residents and staff
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Coronavirus outbreak at Colchester nursing home has infected more than 50 residents and staff

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AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantOct 01, 2020 at 10:51 am.A total of 57 people, including 46 residents, at the Harrington Court Nursing Home in Colchester have tested positive for the coronavirus as state officials deal with yet another outbreak in a long-term care facility.Russell Melmed, director of the Chatham Health District, said Thursday morning there had been no deaths so far, but that the outbreak, which is believed to have started early last week, is still not contained. However, the weekly count of COVID cases in nursing homes released following Gov. Ned Lamont’s press conference lists two deaths in the past week at Harrington.AdvertisementDr. Richard Feifer, Chief Medical Officer for Genesis Health Care, which operates Harrington Court, said Thursday the outbreak started with a patient that was admitted from a local hospital.“Harrington Court has experienced a second outbreak with 45 residents and 11 staff members testing positive for COVID-19,” Feifer said. “We believe the outbreak started with a patient that was admitted to our admissions observation unit from Backus Hospital.”AdvertisementBut Genesis spokeswoman Lori Mayer said that they are retracting that statement.“Upon further analysis, at this time, we do not believe the outbreak at Harrington Court started from a patient admitted from Backus Hospital. We value the excellent care provided by Backus Hospital to our patients and our community,” Mayer said. “We apologize for any confusion we may have caused.”Feifer said the facility is taking other precautions including screening residents and patients for symptoms - three times daily, screening and taking temperatures of all staff upon building entry, restricting visitors and cancelling all outside medical appointments except for medically necessary, time-sensitive and life-saving treatments, such as dialysis and chemotherapy.In response to Feifer’s statement Dr. Ajay Kumar, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Hartford HealthCare, which runs Backus Hospital, said “prior to being transferred to a nursing home, patients receive a COVID-19 test and must receive a negative result before leaving the hospital.”“The nursing home is given access to the patient’s complete medical record, including the COVID test, and accepts the patient prior to the transfer,” Kumar said. “Nursing homes are then required to follow proper infection prevention protocols, including quarantine for a period of time when appropriate, to ensure the safe admission of the patient.”Late Thursday the state Department of Public health issued a statement saying there were 57 positive cases. They released the following timeline:DPH spokesman Av Harris said the agency has since conducted 6 follow-up surveys and found additional infection control issues which the facility is addressing and for which the facility will be cited. Meanwhile, DPH’s Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) team has been working with the facility to advise on further testing, cohorting, and infection control measures.As it happensGet the latest updates on Coronavirus and other breaking news events happening across Connecticut &gt; DPH also has deployed a mobile testing unit to the nursing home in order to conduct rapid testing to try and contain the outbreak. DPH investigators have been at the nursing home since last week when the positive cases started being reported.AdvertisementIn numbers released on Friday the state said there were 11 cases at Harrington indicating the virus has spread quickly. Harrington Court had 76 residents as of last week, meaning now nearly 60% of the residents have been infected.“It still looks to be an acceleration of the outbreak and it’s not contained yet,” Melmed said.Some of the residents who tested positive were moved to another Genesis facility that has a COVID-only wing — Quinnipiac Valley Center in Wallingford, according to Melmed. Genesis officials could not be reached for comment Thursday morning.Colchester First Selectwoman Mary Bylone said she was told the first positive cases occurred early last week.'Harrington Court made it several months free of COVID and they have done a really good job overall, but this just shows how quickly the virus can spread once it gets into these congregate settings," Bylone said.Dave Altimari can be reached at . Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Hartford CourantOct 01, 2020 at 10:51 am.A total of 57 people, including 46 residents, at the Harrington Court Nursing Home in Colchester have tested positive for the coronavirus as state officials deal with yet another outbreak in a long-term care facility.Russell Melmed, director of the Chatham Health District, said Thursday morning there had been no deaths so far, but that the outbreak, which is believed to have started early last week, is still not contained. However, the weekly count of COVID cases in nursing homes released following Gov. Ned Lamont’s press conference...

Coronavirus outbreak at Colchester nursing home has infected more than 50 residents and staff

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