Health department received ‘incorrect information’ about outbreak at Mascoutah facility
(This story has been corrected at 4 p.m. June 2. The original version of this story included incorrect information about a location experiencing a coronavirus outbreak. The information was provided by the St. Clair County Health Department Monday at 3:30 p.m. and subsequently corrected by the agency Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.)
The St. Clair County Health Department on Tuesday said it received incorrect information that the coronavirus had spread to another long-term care facility.
Health officials said Monday that Aperion of Mascoutah had a coronavirus outbreak that was affecting two people. It was removed from the list of locations with outbreaks in Tuesday’s update.
“It was reported incorrectly to us yesterday,” said Brenda Fedak, spokeswoman for the health department.
Health officials say they include residents and employees of the facilities in their data on outbreaks.
The St. Clair County Health Department notes that the numbers it reports out of residential facilities also include people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and people who have symptoms related to the respiratory disease, which is caused by the coronavirus.
The health department provides daily updates on the coronavirus outbreaks and other developments in the county during 3:30 p.m. live streams by the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency on Facebook.
Samantha Bierman, the emergency response coordinator for the St. Clair County Health Department, said during Sunday’s county briefing that health officials reach out to nursing homes and group homes each day for the information.
“We found it important enough to assign those responsibilities of calling our long-term care facilities to members of our health department staff daily, so we can make sure that we are reporting the most up-to-date information when we do these briefings,” she said.
Here is the information the health department provided Monday on the number of people known or suspected to have COVID-19. Four Fountains in Belleville reports only positive test results since it is offering widespread testing:
- 156-bed facility Four Fountains in Belleville — 104 people, including 23 deaths (No change reported since May 27)
- 90-bed facility Lebanon Care Center — 54 people, including 10 deaths (One more person than what was reported Sunday)
- 82-bed facility Memorial Care Center in Belleville — 43 people, including five deaths (No change reported since April 29)
- 53-bed facility New Athens Home for the Aged — 41 people, including three deaths (Two more people than what was reported Sunday)
- 108-bed facility St. Paul’s Home in Belleville — 40 people, including 11 deaths (No change reported since Friday)
- 140-bed facility BRIA of Belleville — 26 people, including three deaths (No change reported since Saturday)
- 94-bed facility Swansea Rehab and Care Center — 14 people, including two deaths (Three more people and one more death than what was reported Sunday)
- Cedarhurst of Shiloh — 11 people (No change reported since May 24)
- Caritas Family Solutions in Belleville region — 11 people (No change reported since May 21)
- Knollwood Retirement Center in Caseyville — Eight people, including one death (No change reported since May 25)
- 133-bed facility BRIA of Cahokia — Eight people (No change reported since May 11)
- Help at Home in O’Fallon — Five people (No change reported since May 4)
- 116-bed facility Cedar Ridge of Lebanon — Five people (No change reported since Saturday)
- Colonnade Senior Living in O’Fallon — Four people (No change reported since May 20)
- TDL Inc. in Belleville — Four people (No change reported since May 6)
- Caseyville Nursing and Rehab — Three people (No change reported since May 28)
- Help at Home in Belleville — Two people (No change reported since May 23)
The website medicare.gov records the number of beds for Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes.
The following increases in the number of people affected by outbreaks were reported on Saturday. No changes were reported in the numbers Sunday:
- BRIA of Belleville — Two more people announced
- Swansea Rehab and Care Center — First death announced
- Cedar Ridge of Lebanon — One more person announced
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 8:02 PM.
