Over 60 residents and dozens of staff members at a nursing home in Old Saybrook have tested positive for COVID-19 and three residents have died during the outbreak, according to the facility.
The administrator of Gladeview Health Care & Rehabilitation said the facility has avoided having a resident test positive the entire pandemic and the facility's first positive case is part of this outbreak. From there, the virus spread quickly.
According to facility officials, as of Wednesday morning, 62 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and three residents have died. Nine residents are currently hospitalized, officials added.
Fifteen other residents are antigen-positive for COVID-19. Officials said the residents who are antigen-positive will be confirmed with a test if they are not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.
An additional 13 residents were exposed, but are testing negative, experts said.
According to the facility, most residents are either experiencing mild symptoms or are completely asymptomatic.
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All residents who are negative have been cohorted in rooms without roommates to decrease their risk of being exposed, the facility said.
A total of 38 staff members are currently quarantining after testing positive for COVID-19 from the outbreak, facility officials said, and two staff members are currently hospitalized. Workers are being brought in from out of state to help with the staffing levels amid the outbreak, the facility added.
Gladeview is working closely with the state and said the state's special response team came in to make sure the facility is doing everything it can to respond to the outbreak and also helped provide PPE.
Facility officials said healthy staff and residents received their Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from CVS Pharmacy on Tuesday. Any resident that is currently COVID-19 positive will be able to receive the vaccine on January 21 as long as they meet CVS Pharmacy's criteria of being 14 days outside of their COVID-19 diagnosis and that they haven't had any symptoms for 14 days before the vaccine, the facility said.
"We are closely tracking all resident symptoms to be sure that all eligible residents receive the vaccine on January 21. Any resident or staff member who is ineligible due to their health status on January 21 will have another opportunity to receive the vaccine three weeks after the January 21 clinic," the facility said.
