UNITY — Deaths continue to climb amid COVID-19 outbreaks in Upper Valley long-term care facilities.
Three residents have now died in an outbreak at the Sullivan County nursing home in Unity and two residents of the Judith Brogren Memory Care Center at the Cedar Hill Continuing Care Community in Windsor have now died, according to the facilities’ leaders.
The Unity outbreak has grown to include a total of 97 people, including 63 residents and 34 workers, said Ted Purdy, the nursing home’s administrator, in a Tuesday Facebook post. Of the affected workers, 16 have returned to work and two have resigned.
Most of the residents who tested positive within the last week have had no or mild symptoms such as a cough or congestion, Purdy wrote.
The facility is scheduled to have a second round of vaccinations on Wednesday. Those who have tested positive but have improving symptoms can be vaccinated. Others will be able to receive it during the nursing home’s next vaccination clinic on Feb. 17, Purdy said.
In Windsor, the Cedar Hill Continuing Care Community has had a total of 21 cases of COVID-19, including 12 residents of the Brogren center, said Patricia Horn, Cedar Hill’s executive director and co-owner, in a Tuesday email. In addition to the two deaths, one resident is hospitalized. The memory care center also has had six workers test positive; four of whom have returned to work.
In addition, one resident of Cedar Hill’s assisted living section has tested positive, as have two employees of the community’s nursing home; both are on quarantine, Horn said in her email.
UNITY — A COVID-19 outbreak at the Sullivan County Department of Corrections has grown to 21, including 15 inmates and six workers, according to the county manager.
One of the inmates and five of the workers have recovered, said Derek Ferland, Sullivan County’s manager, in an email.
The Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt., also reported a new COVID-19 case in a worker on Monday, according to a news release from the Vermont Department of Corrections. The facility is on full lockdown pending test results on Feb. 1.
NEWPORT, N.H. — Classes at schools in Newport are being conducted remotely until Feb. 1, according to the district’s superintendent.
The district made the move last Tuesday, after nine people in the district’s schools tested positive, requiring 58 people to quarantine, Superintendent Brendan Minnihan said in a Facebook post on Jan. 19. Athletics also are on hold and the district is delivering meals during the remote learning period, Minnihan wrote.
Upon students’ return on Feb. 1, kindergartners will be required to wear masks and preschoolers will be transitioning to the use of masks “as soon as possible,” Minnihan said, noting that vented masks are not allowed. Gaiters and bandanas will continue to be allowed at the discretion of classroom teachers, he said.
Students at the Cornish Elementary School returned to in-person learning on Monday, after one positive case required eight staff members to quarantine and forced the school to shift to remote learning beginning on Jan. 11, said Cory LeClair, Cornish’s superintendent. The school later reported a second positive case affecting the school.
Seventh graders at Randolph Union High School shifted to remote instruction on Tuesday through Feb. 2, after school officials learned of a positive case, said Layne Millington, the Orange Southwest School District superintendent, in a Monday evening Facebook post. Because the school altered its learning model, it also has paused all athletics until Feb. 2, Minnihan said.
Windsor School also had a COVID-19 case that school officials learned of Saturday. School officials have contacted those who need to quarantine due to possible exposure, said David Baker, Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union superintendent, in a Saturday message to families.
Mascoma Valley Regional High School reported a COVID-19 case on Jan. 19, according to a memo from Superintendent Amanda Isabelle. Close contacts were notified, but the case in a person who had been on the campus five days before Isabelle announced it required no change in learning models, she said.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
