COVID hotspots cooling at nursing homes

SANDUSKY — Health authorities are still battling COVID-19 outbreaks in three Sandusky area nursing homes, but although a few new cases were reported, the hotspots appeared to be cooling Tuesday. Parkvue Community in Perkins Township has now recorded two deaths. But new cases have slowed at Parkvue and the other two locations, the Ohio Veterans Home and The Meadows at Osborn Park, said Ashley Franks, epidemiologist for the Erie County Health Department. Also Tuesday, Gov. Mike DeWine discussed how testing for COVID-19 in wastewater treatment plants has helped the state obtain early warnings on outbreaks. The Parkvue outbreak is the most recent among the outbreaks at the three nursing homes, and as of Tuesday the nursing home had two deaths and 19 cases of people who had tested positive, including four staff and 15 residents, Franks said. On Friday, Parkvue had 13 cases and no deaths, with nine residents testing positive. The Ohio Veterans Home as of Tuesday had 35 cases in its new outbreak, including 12 staff and 23 residents. The numbers are unchanged from Friday. There have been no deaths in the current outbreak; an outbreak earlier this year was blamed for 19 deaths at OVH. The Meadows as of Tuesday had 43 cases, including 10 staff and 33 residents, and two deaths. That's an increase of only one case, an additional staff member, since Friday. "Looks like we may be on the downswing," Franks said. Parkvue is the most recent outbreak, but Parkvue's aggressive efforts to contain the virus seem to be working, Franks said. Residents who tested positive were isolated quickly, Franks said. And Parkvue, unlike other facilities, does not allow staff members who have tested positive to keep working with residents who are ill, Franks said. Parkvue discovered earlier this month that some of its employees had tested positive, and it immediately tested all of the residents, spokeswoman Amy Bonacuse told the Register. "We have separated positive residents from others and are working closely with the Erie County Department of Health to manage the situation. We also have kept in close contact with residents' families to communicate the steps we are taking to manage the further spread and keep their loved ones safe," Bonacuse said. During his regular press conference, DeWine talked about how testing for COVID-19 DNA in wastewater treatment plans offers a way to get early warnings on new outbreaks. His guest expert, Rebecca Fugitt, assistant chief of the Bureau of Environmental Health and Radiation Protection at the state health department, said the testing is being done at 36 locations now, and 25 more sites will be added in the coming month. Fugitt said an uptick in COVID DNA in wastewater can come three-to-seven days before local cases go up. She said the wastewater testing detected increased coronavirus cases in Toledo, Richland County and Summit County. The news apparently is better in Sandusky, one of the 36 current locations for wastewater testing. A graph, available online at coronvirus.ohio.gov, shows a decline since Sept. 13 in coronavirus in city wastewater. Case roundup As of Monday, Erie County had 974 COVID-19 cases, up 22 cases since Friday, and 47 deaths, an increase of three deaths since Friday, according to the Erie County Health Department. The department issues updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Nine patients were being treated for COVID-19 Monday at Firelands Regional Medical Center. Other county totals, as of Tuesday according to the state health department: Sandusky County, 587 cases, 20 deaths; Huron County, 572 cases, seven deaths; Seneca County, 495 cases, 14 deaths, and Ottawa County, 472 cases, 30 deaths. Ohio on Tuesday had 152,907 cases and 4,783 deaths. The state reported 1,105 new cases and 37 new deaths Friday. On Tuesday, the U.S. had 7,108,411 cases and 205,774 deaths, while the world had 33,484,488 cases and 1,004,129 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins tracking website.