COVID-19 : Geer nursing facility recovering from outbreak

NORTH CANAAN — The Geer Village Senior Community appears to be emerging from an outbreak of COVID-19 that had involved 67 residents and 22 staff since Sept. 30.

However, eight residents of the 82-bed nursing facility with serious underlying health issues died from the coronavirus during that recent wave of infections.

“While we grieve along with the families and our staff for those who have passed, we are encouraged to see more and more residents and staff coming off of quarantine and recovering from this horrible virus,” said Kevin O’Connell, Geer’s CEO. “We are grateful to our community for their outpouring of love and support.”

The Geer administrator offered cautious optimism that the facility is rounding the corner on the contagion.

“We do anticipate this outbreak coming to an end in the next few weeks.”

Staff and residents have recovered

In an update to the community issued on Friday, Nov. 12, Geer officials reported that of the 67 cumulative positive cases among residents since Sept. 30, 48 individuals have recovered.

Of the 22 staff members infected during the outbreak, 21 have recovered.

“We are encouraged to see 69 staff and residents already recovered and coming off isolation. While we must continue with COVID-19 prevention protocols, we want to assure everyone we are doing our best to keep residents and staff safe,” Cady Bloodgood, Geer’s director of nursing, and O’Connell, said in a joint statement. “We continue to provide access to the monoclonal antibody treatment to any resident that meets the criteria for treatment.”

Bi-weekly testing on residents and staff is continuing.

“Despite seeing significant numbers of residents recovering from COVID, testing has resulted in one additional positive case among fully vaccinated residents and staff members,” according to the Geer officials.

Virtual and window visits encouraged

The majority of the positive cases at the nursing home were reported to be breakthrough infections. The facility is technically still considered to be in an outbreak until 14 days have passed with no positive cases. At that time, all Geer Nursing residents and staff will be eligible for the booster, said O’Connell.

All visits continue to remain on hold until further notice. Family members are encouraged to continue to connect virtually and through window visits.

Geer officials said they will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates for residents, staff, families and community stakeholders as the situation changes.

In the meantime, they asked for the public’s help in battling COVID-19 by visiting the CDC website at https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus “to learn how you can help prevent the spread in our community.”

Litchfield County was recently placed in the “High Transmission” category of COVID-19 by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), joining six other Connecticut counties in the classification. The High Transmission category, which is the most severe as defined by the CDC, is 100 or more cases per 100,000 people or a positivity rate of 10% or higher over the past seven days.

With the ongoing rapid increase in cases of COVID-19 in Connecticut due to the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant, the state Department of Public Health (DPH) has strongly recommended that all residents over the age of 2 years, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, return to wearing masks when in indoor public spaces.

Related Articles Around the Web

Latest News

'Gather' at Troutbeck

'Gather' at Troutbeck

Romane Recalde speaking about her new business at Gather.

Natalia Zukerman

Hosted by Jason Klein and Sascha Lewis, an ongoing series called “Gather” at Troutbeck in Amenia brings together a curious crowd of local entrepreneurs, artists, and others with a story to tell for an intimate midday chat. On Thursday, Jan. 16, floral designer Romane Recalde, owner of the newly opened Le Jardin in Amenia, took center stage to share her journey from modeling in Miami to cultivating flowers in the Hudson Valley. Gather is a place to share stories, swap advice, and celebrate some of the unique businesses that make our area vibrant — all with a delicious lunch on the side. The gatherings are unconventional in the best way, with no agenda beyond good conversation and community building.

Recalde’s story isn’t just about creating a flower shop; it’s about a complete reinvention of self. “I hated Miami so much,” said the French-born Recalde, recalling her time in Florida before moving to New York. She worked as a model in New York, and eventually met her husband, James. Their pandemic escape to Turks and Caicos turned into a six-month stay, which in turn led them to Millbrook and finally to their home in Amenia, where Recalde’s connection to nature blossomed.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Mad Rose opens ‘Assembled’ exhibition

Mad Rose opens ‘Assembled’ exhibition

Mad Rose Gallery’s “Assembled” exhibition opened Saturday, Jan. 18, with a public reception.

The eclectic exhibition — on view until March 2 at the gallery on the intersection of Routes 22 and 44 in Millerton — gathers together work from a group of diverse artists with decades of experience between them. The exhibition itself is true to the name, featuring photographs, sculptures, drawings and mixed media works in all shapes and sizes.

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit

The fragile bonds of family: a review of Betsy Lerner’s 'Shred Sisters'

The fragile bonds of family: a review of Betsy Lerner’s 'Shred Sisters'

Betsy Lerner’s 'Shred Sisters' is written with such verve and poetic imagination that it’s hard to fathom how it could be the author’s first novel. Ms. Lerner, 64, has worked for three decades as a literary agent, editor, and non-fiction writer, but at some point during the Covid pandemic — without any forethought — she sat down and typed out the first line of the novel exactly as it now appears in the book, and then completed it without telling anyone what she was up to.

The novel takes place over twenty years — from the 1970s into the ’90s — and is a kind of guide for that era. It reads like a memoir accompanied by some bouncy dialogue, but is actually a work of what’s called autofiction in which Lerner mixes her own experiences — including her own struggle with mental illness — with things she simply makes up. The fictional narrator is Amy Shred, the younger of two sisters in an upper-middle-class, secular Jewish family living in the suburbs of New Haven, Connecticut.

Keep ReadingShow less
books

Lazy, hazy days of...winter?

Lazy, hazy days of...winter?

This small stream is fishable, despite the wintry conditions. It probably won't be a pleasant or productive experience, but it can be done.

Patrick L. Sullivan

When syndicated columnists run out of ideas they do one of two things.

First they collect the last couple year’s worth of columns and call it a book. These are published to great acclaim from other syndicated columnists and show up in due course in gigantic, ziggurat-shaped mounds at Costco for $4.98 a pop.

Keep ReadingShow less