COVID-19 outbreak hits Audrain County nursing home

Posted 9/6/20

Forty-two active cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Thursday evening by the Audrain County Health Department at the Tri-County Care Center in Vandalia.

EIghteen staff and 24 residents are affected, …

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COVID-19 outbreak hits Audrain County nursing home

Posted

Forty-two active cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Thursday evening by the Audrain County Health Department at the Tri-County Care Center in Vandalia.

EIghteen staff and 24 residents are affected, to date. One patient has died, bringing the county’s total death count to two. The first COVID-related death was June 1.

Total cases for the county are now at 313, with 64 active. All cases are from community transmission, which means those who test positive do not know how they were exposed to the virus.

Total cases have increased by 63 since Aug. 26. Thursday’s reporting from the health department is the largest single-day case jump since May when there was an outbreak among staff of concentrated animal feeding operations in Thompson and Paris.

Another significant increase happened between Aug. 28 and Monday, with 13 new cases. This is due to the county using a new case tracking and surveillance system, which receives updates on weekends, Health Administrator Sandra Hewlett said in a weekly teleconference with area governmental, education, health and business leaders. Because of the updates, case numbers are not reported on weekends.

The health department will be closed for normal service Monday due to the Labor Day holiday. The department will be staffed, however, to continue monitoring the county’s COVID-19 response. Regular business hours will resume Tuesday.

The department noted in a Wednesday news release that cases of COVID-19 typically have a significant increase after holidays, and so are asking county residents to wash hands frequently, wear a mask, social distance and stay home if you are sick or someone in your home is awaiting COVID-19 test results.


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