Possible coronavirus cases have increased daily at Belleville long-term care center
The number of people affected by the coronavirus outbreak at Four Fountains in Belleville has increased every day this week.
The St. Clair County Health Department announced Thursday afternoon that a total of 21 people who work or receive care at the facility now either have a formal diagnosis through testing or they have symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.
The total has grown from eight people on Sunday, when the health department first released information about long-term care facilities that are experiencing outbreaks. By Wednesday, it had more than doubled to 17 people.
One person connected to Four Fountains has died, the health department said Sunday. There has been no increase in deaths to date.
State officials, including the governor and the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, have said many times during the coronavirus pandemic that it is difficult to prevent the virus from spreading in “congregate settings” like long-term care facilities. They have cited that difficulty as the reason they asked those facilities to restrict visitors early on.
The St. Clair County Health Department has been providing daily updates on the outbreaks at long-term care facilities during 3:30 p.m. live streams by the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency on Facebook.
The data on the other facilities did not change Thursday. Here are the latest numbers on known or suspected COVID-19 patients released by the health department:
- Four Fountains in Belleville: 21 patients, one death
- Memorial Care Center in Belleville: 14 patients, one death
- BRIA of Belleville: 12 patients, one death
- Colonnade in O’Fallon: Two patients
The Illinois Department of Public Health is also releasing data on coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities statewide at dph.illinois.gov/covid19/long-term-care-facility-outbreaks-covid-19. The state’s data is expected to be updated once a week.
