2 more deaths connected to coronavirus outbreaks at St. Clair County care facilities
The St. Clair County Health Department on Wednesday announced that two more deaths have been connected to coronavirus outbreaks at long-term care facilities in the county as it revised some of the statistics it reported Tuesday.
Four Fountains and St. Paul’s Home, both in Belleville, each have one new death, according to health officials. A total of 18 deaths have now been recorded for Four Fountains and a total of four for St. Paul’s Home.
The health department provides information on the long-term care centers and group homes, along with other developments in the county, during daily 3:30 p.m. live streams by the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency on Facebook.
Samantha Bierman, emergency response coordinator for the health department, said Wednesday during the briefing that there were discrepancies in the numbers reported Tuesday for three facilities. The total number of people affected by the outbreaks at Four Fountains and Caritas Family Solutions in Belleville and at Colonnade Senior Living in O’Fallon were corrected Wednesday after the health department spoke with the facilities’ leaders, according to Bierman.
In explaining the discrepancy with Caritas’ numbers from Tuesday, St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern and Bierman said health officials had included people who were asymptomatic to get a total of 18.
“There was some miscommunication when those people were tested,” Bierman said. “The information funneled down, and it turned out that they were not symptomatic. So we do not count people that are not symptomatic.”
But the total reported for Caritas Family Solutions on Wednesday still did not match what the agency provided to the Belleville News-Democrat. The health department said a total of seven people were affected by the outbreak. Agency spokeswoman Jessica Williams said 10 people from Caritas locations in the Belleville region tested positive.
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 Wednesday 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 — 106 people, including 18 deaths (One more death than what was reported Tuesday)
- 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)
- 108-bed facility St. Paul’s Home in Belleville — 10 people, including four deaths (One more death than what was reported Tuesday)
- Caritas Family Solutions in Belleville region — 10 people
- 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)
- 94-bed facility Swansea Rehab and Care Center — Five people (One more person than what was reported Tuesday)
- Help at Home in O’Fallon — Five people (No change reported since May 4)
- Colonnade Senior Living in O’Fallon — Four people
- 53-bed facility New Athens Home for the Aged — Four people (No change reported since Tuesday)
- 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 20, 2020 at 6:27 PM.
