St. Clair County Health Department reports 7 new COVID-19 cases at care centers

The St. Clair County Health Department on Friday announced seven more people connected to long-term care centers are potentially infected with the coronavirus.

The county health department reported no deaths reported Friday.

Increases in the number of people affected by coronavirus outbreaks were reported out of BRIA of Belleville, Swansea Rehab and Care Center, Cedarhurst of Shiloh, and Caritas Family Solutions in Belleville.

The St. Clair County Health Department says it includes residents and employees of the facilities in its data on outbreaks.

Health officials note that the numbers they report out of residential facilities also include people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and people who have symptoms related to the respiratory disease.

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.

Here is the information health officials provided Friday on the number of people known or suspected to have COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus, at long-term care centers. 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 25 deaths (No change than what was reported Thursday)
• 90-bed facility Lebanon Care Center — 54 people, including 10 deaths (No change reported since Monday)
• 53-bed facility New Athens Home for the Aged — 51 people, including three deaths (No change reported since Wednesday)
• 82-bed facility Memorial Care Center in Belleville — 43 people, including five deaths (No change reported since April 29)
• 108-bed facility St. Paul’s Home in Belleville — 42 people, including 11 deaths (No change than what was reported Thursday)
• 140-bed facility BRIA of Belleville — 42 people, including four deaths (Two more people than what was reported Thursday)
• 94-bed facility Swansea Rehab and Care Center — 23 people, including two deaths (Three more people than what was reported Thursday)
• 116-bed facility Cedar Ridge of Lebanon — 16 people, including one death (No change than what was reported Thursday)
  
  
• Cedarhurst of Shiloh — 12 people (One new person than what was reported Thursday)
• Caritas Family Solutions in Belleville region — 12 people (One new person than what was reported Thursday)
  
  
• 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)
• 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 state’s updates on outbreaks come once a week at dph.illinois.gov/covid19/long-term-care-facility-outbreaks-covid-19.

This is the information from the state’s latest update on the number of people known to have COVID-19 at facilities elsewhere in the metro-east from May 29. The website had not been updated as of Friday afternoon:

• 120-bed facility Edwardsville Care Center — 93 people, including 22 deaths (Two more deaths than what was reported May 22)
• 109-bed facility Carlyle HealthCare Center — 85 people, including 15 deaths (Three more people than what was reported May 22)
• 128-bed facility Eden Village Care Center in Glen Carbon — 60 people, including 18 deaths (11 more people than what was reported May 22)
• Warren G Murray Developmental Center — 59 people (11 more people than what was reported May 15. The Murray Center was not included in the state’s May 22 update.)
• Garden Place Columbia — 39 people, including 11 deaths (No change reported since May 15. Garden Place was not included in the state’s May 22 update.)
• Clinton Manor Living Facility in Clinton County — 29 people, including one death (Seven more people and one more death than what was reported May 22)
• 137-bed facility Riverside Rehab and Healthcare in Alton — 28 people, including seven deaths (Seven more people and three more deaths than what was reported May 22)
• Cedarhurst of Highland — Four people (One more person than what was reported May 22)
• Cedarhurst of Bethalto — Four people (One more person than what was reported May 22)
• Heritage Health in Macoupin County — Four people (No change reported since May 15. Heritage Health was not included in the state’s May 22 update.)
• 144-bed facility Oak Hill in Waterloo — Three people (No change reported since May 1)
• Sunset Skilled Nursing & Rehab in Macoupin County — Two people (No change reported since May 22)
• Cedarhurst of Sparta — Two people (No change reported since May 1)
• 75-bed facility Coulterville Rehabilitation & Health Care Center — Two people (No change reported since May 1) Whitney Oberlink, administrator of the Coulterville Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, said previously that the two people affected by COVID-19 there were both employees and that they have each recovered from the disease.

The website medicare.gov records the number of beds for Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes.

Discrepancies in the data

Lower numbers are expected to come from the state than local health departments, which have more up-to-date information.

For example, each week since May 8, the Illinois Department of Public Health’s website has included slightly higher numbers for BRIA of Cahokia than what the St. Clair County Health Department reported on Fridays.

The last time the health department reported a change in the numbers at BRIA of Cahokia was May 11.

Last week, the state reported seven more cases and one more death at BRIA of Cahokia than the health department did. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear May 29. The health department couldn’t be reached to explain the discrepancy.

Because local health departments and individual facilities have previously said the state’s data was off, the Belleville News-Democrat did not include the higher numbers for BRIA of Cahokia in calculating the total deaths for the region.

When the state first released data April 19, for example, it recorded 54 people tested positive or had symptoms at Memorial Care Center in Belleville, while the center itself said there were 13 people at the time. And 54 is still a higher number than Memorial Care Center is reporting today.