COVID-19

87 of 89 COVID Cases at CT Nursing Home Outbreak Were Fully Vaccinated; 8 Dead

Since testing positive, 78 residents and staff have recovered.

Published

7 days ago

November 19, 2021

Staff Writer

Geer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

A nursing home in Connecticut has caused national concern after 89 residents and staff tested positive for coronavirus; 87 of the infected were fully vaccinated and 8 died. The outbreak began at the Geer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in North Canaan, Connecticut in late September.

The eight individuals who died had “serious underlying health issues.” 78 residents and staff have recovered since the outbreak began. “We are encouraged to see only 3 active cases of covid-19 remaining within our nursing home. Of the total 67 residents affected over the course of this outbreak, 56 are fully recovered and off isolation. Sadly, we have lost 8 individuals with serious underlying health issues to Covid” said CEO Kevin O’Connell.

Facility leaders said 87 of the 89 infected residents and staff were fully vaccinated, so leaders are "obviously concerned we experienced some level of waning immunity." https://t.co/EBQEKfLD7B

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Because 87 of the 89 were fully vaccinated individuals, leaders are “obviously concerned we experienced some level of waning immunity.” O’Connell said they had boosters scheduled for November 2, but the outbreak pushed it back.

“We’re following the guidance of the Department of Health…and they do not recommend providing booster to anybody with active infections for 14 days after the outbreak,” said O’Connell. Therefore no booster shots can be made available until there are no new positive cases for two full weeks.

ABC News reports:

The CDC currently recommends that all individuals, 18 and older, who live in long-term care facilities, receive a COVID-19 booster shot, given the fact that residents are likely to live closely together, and are often older adults with underlying medical conditions, which cause them to be at “increased risk of infection and severe illness from COVID-19.”

Officials from the home said over the weekend, “We continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates for residents, staff, families and community stakeholders as the situation changes.”

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Nation

Remote Learning Lowered Test Scores in Every State; Minority Students Hit the Worst

Published

58 mins ago

November 26, 2021

Staff Writer

A paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) shows remote learning has had a negative impact on students’ test scores in every state. Not only were students across the country affected, minority students were impacted the most.

According to the publication, remote learning led to declines in test scores for English and math, when compared to scores of students who went to schools with more in-person learning. “Our research shows that test score losses are significantly larger in districts with less in-person learning,” said Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University.

“This suggests, yes, that virtual learning was – and is – less effective than in-person learning, at least as measured by school-based testing” added Oster. “Passing rates in math declined by 14.2 percentage points on average; we estimate this decline was 10.1 percentage points smaller for districts fully in-person,” the study found.

The research combined “district-level schooling mode data from the 2020-21 school year,” “district-level test score data from 2015 to 2021” and “demographic data from the NCES,” according to the study.

Data was collected from students in third to eighth grades in 12 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Score declines showed variations by state, as well. Virginia “which had the most complete virtual learning time, along with Colorado, saw an almost 32% drop on math test scores in the 2020-21 school year when compared to the 2018-19 school year” reports Tampa Free Press.

Wyoming, however, “which had the most in-person learning, along with Florida, saw just a 2.3% drop in English, the study found.”

“Changes in English Language Arts (ELA) were smaller than math scores overall, but drops in scores were greater in districts with larger black and Hispanic populations and students eligible for free and reduced lunch prices” reports Tampa Free Press.

“Districts that have a larger share of black and Hispanic students and less in-person schooling also saw a greater decline in ELA test scores than those with more in-person schooling. “