Two more staff members and 10 more residents have tested positive for COVID-19 at a nursing home in Sherman, bringing the total cases associated with the facility to 26, according to a news release form the Sangamon County Department of Public Health.
The confirmed cases at The Villas Senior Care Community include two deaths. A man in his 90s died last week, and a second resident, a man in his 70s, died at Memorial Medical Center Thursday.
Countywide, 87 people have tested positive and six people have died from COVID-19. Twenty-five people are hospitalized with the disease at Memorial Medical Center and HSHS St. John’s Hospital.
About 1,500 Sangamon County residents have been tested.
The health department confirmed the outbreak at The Villas on Tuesday. Ages range from an employee in her teens to residents in their 100s.
The Villas received 100 testing kits this week to screen staff, according to spokeswoman Melissa Beaver, vice president of community relations for Heritage Operations Group, which runs the home.
Beaver said the home has a coronavirus response plan to contain the spread of the disease, which includes isolating residents with positive cases and those with symptoms to one wing of the home. It’s also getting support from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Sangamon County Department of Public Health in following infection control procedures.
Staff are monitoring the vital signs of residents’ sick with COVID-19 or who have the symptoms more frequently. They are also regularly calling and communicating with residents’ families.
Fourteen of the sick residents are in the hospital. The skilled-nursing facility is home to 80 people.
