“All 62 residents at a nursing home in northwest Kansas have tested positive for COVID-19 and 10 of them have died, local health officials said Monday. The outbreak at the privately owned Andbe Home in Norton County has forced 51 of the surviving residents into quarantine at the facility. One remaining resident has been hospitalized. An unspecified number of staff has also tested positive, the Norton County Health Department said in a release. The announcement comes amid a rise in COVID-19 cases across the state in recent weeks. As of Monday, 72,968 people have tested positive for the virus in Kansas and 872 have died. Both numbers are roughly double what the state reported in late August. ASSOCIATED PRESS Carla Gillespie visits her mother, Evelyn Solberg, at the Jones-Harrison Residence in Minneapolis on Oct. 12. It was the first time they had been allowed to see each other since March, and the policy change came as COVID-19 cases again begin to rise across the U.S. Nationwide, COVID-19 cases have also risen in the general population and in nursing homes. The increase over the last four weeks comes after new nursing home cases had dropped significantly in August and early September, according to data from John Hopkins and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), which represents more than 14,000 nursing homes and assisted living communities across the country, warned Monday that nursing homes could soon experience another spike in cases due to community spread. “The number one factor in keeping COVID out of our nursing homes, so we can protect our vulnerable population, is reducing the level of the virus in the surrounding community,” said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL, in a statement. A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus Get the latest coronavirus updates here. What will life be like once a coronavirus vaccine arrives? Everything you need to know about face masks right now. What should you still be disinfecting to prevent COVID-19? Is it possible you had coronavirus earlier this year? Constantly arguing with your partner about coronavirus risks? You are not alone. Everyone deserves accurate information about COVID-19. Support journalism without a paywall — and keep it free for everyone — by becoming a HuffPost member today.
