Growing outbreaks in nursing homes continue to drive Vermont’s spike in Covid-19 cases, with a 66% increase in cases since last week.
Eight nursing homes are fighting to contain the spread of the virus with a combined 166 cases, according to data from the state’s Department of Financial Regulation.
Rutland Healthcare & Rehabilitation reported 54 cases among residents and staff, up 13 from last week. That virus spread rapidly among residents of the memory care floor, and has led to staffing shortages as workers tested positive.
Four Seasons Care Home in Northfield has 39 cases and officials identified 25 cases at Elderwood in Burlington.
Among those infected at Elderwood was 91-year-old John O’Connor. On Thanksgiving, his son, Nate, said he got the call that his father had tested positive and had days left to live.
Nate O’Connor robed up in layers of personal protective equipment on Sunday for a final visit with his father, his first in-person conversation since April.
He felt helpless, he said. “What a needless mess we’re all in,” he wrote in an email to VTDigger. He urged people to wear their masks and keep up social distancing. “People have to realize that even small efforts can help our most vulnerable citizens.”
Health Commissioner Mark Levine said the new batch of positive results only “magnified” his concerns about elder care homes. The state would redouble its efforts to prevent further spread, increasing testing and reporting new cases more frequently.
The virus is coming into the elder care homes from staff who don’t yet have symptoms, Levine said.
The state will offer regular antigen tests to residents and staff of long-term care facilities, said Human Services Secretary Mike Smith, making use of a stockpile from the federal government. Officials have previously questioned the reliability of the rapid tests, which led to dozens of false positives in Manchester in July. The tests will be used as preemptive “surveillance” and all positive results will be confirmed with the state’s preferred PCR tests.
The tests will help “to find and isolate these cases early on,” before people develop symptoms, Smith said.
The Medical Reserve Corps has helped facilities fill gaps with volunteers, as elder care homes struggle to meet the staffing demand. Some homes with outbreaks have moved infected residents to nearby hospitals, Smith said, in part to lighten the load on homes’ staffing, or if patients are in immediate need of hospital care.
Gov. Phil Scott urged Vermonters to redouble their efforts to prevent community transmission,
“We have tough days and months ahead. And we’re not out of the woods yet,” he said. “We can’t give up when we’re finally seeing a way out.”