Coronavirus spread continues at 3 St. Clair County residential facilities with outbreaks
The coronavirus has spread to additional people who work for or receive services from Caritas Family Solutions.
The St. Clair County Health Department on Tuesday announced that 18 people from Caritas in Belleville had either tested positive for COVID-19 or had symptoms of the respiratory disease. But the agency’s chief executive officer said the total is actually 11 and that the people are from multiple facilities in the Belleville region.
It was not immediately clear what caused the discrepancy Tuesday evening.
“We have had a total of 11 confirmed cases at Caritas facilities in our Belleville region,” CEO Gary Huelsmann wrote in a statement to the Belleville News-Democrat. “We have reached out to the Health Department for more information on the additional reported cases which were announced this week.”
Caritas is a licensed child welfare and family service agency that offers assistance to foster children, adults who have developmental disabilities and seniors.
When its outbreak was first reported May 4, the agency’s spokeswoman, Jessica Williams, said she could not provide more information about the people who tested positive for COVID-19, citing federal privacy law under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.
Williams would only confirm that the six people with the disease at the time were from one of Caritas’ locations in Belleville. Huelsmann also declined to provide more information on Tuesday.
“Out of respect for our children, staff, and clients we serve, we have a policy of not giving identifying information about who tested positive for COVID-19,” Huelsmann stated. “We have been extremely proud of the heroic efforts our staff has made to thoroughly disinfect and control the spread of this virus throughout our facilities.”
Health officials in St. Clair County also reported increases in the number of people affected by coronavirus outbreaks at Four Fountains in Belleville and Colonnade Senior Living in O’Fallon on Tuesday. It was the second time Four Fountains’ numbers rose this week.
The St. Clair County Health Department’s daily update on those outbreaks included a new long-term care center in the county: New Athens Home for the Aged. Four people there have either tested positive or have symptoms of the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. A total of 13 places in St. Clair County are now reporting outbreaks.
The health department provides information on the long-term care centers and group homes, along with other developments in the county, during 3:30 p.m. live streams by the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency on Facebook.
Health officials note that the numbers it reports out of residential facilities could include residents or employees, as well as people with symptoms who have not had a coronavirus test. But some facilities may only be reporting positive test results to the county, like Four Fountains, which is offering widespread testing, according to its administrator.
Here is the information the St. Clair County Health Department provided Tuesday on the number of people known or suspected to have COVID-19, either because of a test result or their symptoms (except for Caritas Family Solutions, which provided its total in a statement):
- 156-bed facility Four Fountains in Belleville — 109 people, including 17 deaths (Four more people than what was reported Monday)
- 90-bed facility Lebanon Care Center — 51 people, including nine deaths (No change reported since May 15)
- 82-bed facility Memorial Care Center in Belleville — 43 people, including five deaths (No change reported since April 29)
- 140-bed facility BRIA of Belleville — 23 people, including two deaths (No change reported since May 10)
- Caritas Family Solutions in Belleville — 11 people (Seven more people than what was reported Monday)
- 108-bed facility St. Paul’s Home in Belleville — 10 people, including three deaths (No change reported since May 11)
- 133-bed facility BRIA of Cahokia — Eight people (No change reported since May 11)
- Knollwood Retirement Center in Caseyville — Six people (No change reported since Saturday)
- Colonnade Senior Living in O’Fallon — Five people (Two more people than what was reported Monday)
- Help at Home in O’Fallon — Five people (No change reported since May 4)
- 53-bed facility New Athens Home for the Aged — Four people (Newly reported)
- 94-bed facility Swansea Rehab and Care Center — Four people (No change reported since May 12)
- TDL Inc. in Belleville — Four people (No change reported since May 6)
The website medicare.gov records the number of beds for Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 5:48 PM.
