Local retirement homes remain on alert

by Ruth Melville

Covid-19 cases are on the rise throughout the United States, and the state of Connecticut is no exception. 

Although the Northwest Corner has fared comparatively well, the Connecticut Department of Public Health is currently (as of Nov. 20) listing several towns in our area—Goshen, Torrington, North Canaan and Salisbury—in the red zone, the state’s highest alert level, indicating a daily average of over 15 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people.

In October, a Covid-19 outbreak at Geer Village was enough to push North Canaan into the red zone. 

Seniors living in long-term care facilities are known to be disproportionately vulnerable to the coronavirus. For the first eight months of the pandemic, Geer CEO Kevin O’Connell says Geer Village was able to remain virus free, but that changed when a staff member who was infected but asymptomatic—just the situation that eludes routine screening—came to work. During the outbreak, 36 residents became ill. Most recovered, but six died. O’Connell says these deaths were “heartbreaking.” Of the 15 staff members who became ill, 14 have recovered. 

Geer is now testing all staff and residents weekly. In the third week of November, they had only one more case among staff and one among residents. O’Connell is “cautiously optimistic” but says they will not consider the outbreak over until the facility has gone 14 days without any positive tests.

Another local senior living facility, Noble Horizons in Salisbury, has so far succeeded in keeping Covid at bay. Bill Pond, administrator and COO, credits Noble’s early response and very strong infection-control practices, but he acknowledges that there is a bit of luck involved too. 

Pond and his team meet every day to review their procedures. Staff are currently screened twice a shift, and residents three times a day. Staff are tested every week, and Noble Horizons is working with a lab to get timely results. Just in case it’s ever needed, an area is reserved in their nursing home where residents who test positive can be isolated.

Both Pond and O’Connell warn that the coronavirus has now spread throughout the community, and with the holiday season coming up, it’s not the time for people to let down their guard. O’Connell suggests checking the Connecticut Department of Public Health website, https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Data-Tracker, to see how your town is doing. Geer itself puts regular updates on their blog, which can be accessed through their website