‘Drastic jumps’ reported in St. Clair County facility outbreaks. Not all cases are new
The St. Clair County Health Department on Thursday reported “drastic jumps” of 46 more coronavirus cases at a few long-term care centers with outbreaks, but not all the information was new.
The largest increases were out of Cedar Ridge of Lebanon and BRIA of Cahokia.
Cedar Ridge’s spike was due to increased testing, according to the health department. At BRIA of Cahokia, the numbers had been increasing since May, and the health department’s daily report only started catching up on Thursday.
BRIA of Cahokia is in the East Side Health District rather than the St. Clair County Health Department’s jurisdiction. So while the health department has said in county briefings that it calls each long-term care center daily for updates, that did not include BRIA of Cahokia, health officials recently confirmed.
BRIA of Cahokia reports its numbers to the East Side Health District, which covers Canteen Township, Centreville Township, East St. Louis Township and Stites Township. The health district submits the information to the Illinois Department of Public Health for the state’s weekly updates on outbreaks at long-term care centers.
Brenda Fedak, spokeswoman for the St. Clair County Health Department, said via email Thursday that the department would start reporting numbers for long-term care centers in the East Side Health District based on the state’s weekly data at dph.illinois.gov/covid19/long-term-care-facility-outbreaks-covid-19.
That means the numbers for BRIA of Cahokia will be delayed in St. Clair County’s daily reports except on Fridays, when the state data is updated.
‘A pretty steep increase’
Samantha Bierman, emergency response coordinator for the health department, said Thursday there were 30 more coronavirus cases at Cedar Ridge of Lebanon alone, for a total of 49 cases there.
“When we report numbers today for long-term care facilities, you guys will see that we did have some drastic jumps in some of our locations,” Bierman said during the county’s daily briefing.
“As we have said, the more we test, we do expect to see that number rise, but today it was a pretty steep increase,” Bierman added.
The numbers the health department announced for BRIA of Cahokia were from six days prior, when the East Side Health District reported 21 cases and one death to the state.
That is nearly three times more cases than the St. Clair County Health Department has been reporting for BRIA of Cahokia every day since May 11.
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 reporting St. Clair County’s daily long-term care center numbers.
When the state first released data on April 19, for example, it recorded 54 cases 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.
BRIA Health Services spokeswoman Natalie Bauer Luce said Monday evening in response to a BND inquiry that the outbreak at BRIA of Cahokia had increased to 22 cases — nine positive residents and 13 positive staff — and two resident deaths.
On Wednesday morning, East Side Health District spokeswoman Linda Davis Joiner said there were 23 cases — an increase of one resident — and two deaths.
Davis Joiner said the St. Clair County Health Department would receive information about BRIA of Cahokia employees who tested positive if they lived outside of the health district in St. Clair County.
Latest numbers for long-term care centers
The health department provides daily updates on 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 the health department provided Thursday on the number of people from long-term care centers who are known or suspected to have COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus:
- 156-bed facility Four Fountains in Belleville — 104 people, including 26 deaths (No change reported since June 8)
- 90-bed facility Lebanon Care Center — 54 people, including 10 deaths (No change reported since June 1)
- 53-bed facility New Athens Home for the Aged — 53 people, including five deaths (One more person and one more death than what was reported Wednesday)
- 116-bed facility Cedar Ridge of Lebanon — 49 people, including two death (30 more people than what was reported Wednesday)
- 140-bed facility BRIA of Belleville — 47 people, including five deaths (One more death than what was reported Wednesday)
- 82-bed facility Memorial Care Center in Belleville — 44 people, including five deaths (No change reported since June 8)
- 108-bed facility St. Paul’s Home in Belleville — 42 people, including 14 deaths (No change reported since June 9)
- 94-bed facility Swansea Rehab and Care Center — 28 people, including four deaths (Two more people than what was reported Wednesday)
- 133-bed facility BRIA of Cahokia — 21 people, including one death (13 more people and one more death than what was reported Wednesday)
- Cedarhurst of Shiloh — 12 people (No change reported since June 5)
- Caritas Family Solutions in Belleville region — 12 people (No change reported since June 5)
- Knollwood Retirement Center in Caseyville — Eight people, including one death (No change reported since May 25)
- Colonnade Senior Living in O’Fallon — Five people (No change reported since June 7)
- Help at Home in O’Fallon — Five people (No change reported since May 4)
- TDL Inc. in Belleville — Four people (No change reported since May 6)
- Caseyville Nursing and Rehab — Three people (No change reported since May 28)
- Atrium of Belleville — Two people
- Help at Home in Belleville — Two people (No change reported since May 23)
The St. Clair County Health Department says it includes residents and staff of the facilities in its data on outbreaks. It does not provide a breakdown of how many residents or employees are affected.
Health officials also note that the numbers they report out of residential facilities include people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and people who have symptoms related to the respiratory disease.
The website medicare.gov records the number of beds for Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes.
A health department correction
Also on Thursday, numbers were corrected for the Atrium of Belleville. Bierman said the health department previously “received some incorrect information.” She reported three coronavirus cases there Wednesday but said Thursday it was two cases.
Roberto Roma, the Atrium of Belleville’s executive director, submitted a statement to the BND that said an asymptomatic employee tested positive and quarantined. Then, a resident who moved out of the Atrium in March also tested positive, according to Roma.
“While the state reporting details include this individual with the total impact on The Atrium of Belleville, this particular case does not directly affect our community or require any changes in our precautionary measures,” Roma stated. “There are no other residents or associates displaying symptoms of COVID-19 at this time.”
