AMID OUTBREAKS, STATE ANNOUNCES FAST-ACTING COVID TESTS FOR ALL LONGTERM CARE WORKERS
MONTPELIER: St. Albans Health and Rehab is still battling an outbreak of COVID-19, as are other long-term facilities across Vermont. At last count, St. Albans Health and Rehab had 21 cases, spread among workers and residents, with at least four deaths associated with the virus in the Sheldon Road facility.
The St. Albans Health and Rehab Center is the fourth largest outbreak among long-term care centers in the Green Mountain State since the beginning of the pandemic.
This morning, Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Smith announced the availability to every long-term care home a new test to combat the spread of the virus into nursing homes.
Smith said the tests would be used for all employees entering the facilities each day, as well as any residents within the facility that begin to show symptoms similar to those with COVID-19.
Workers will also be required to have twice-weekly PCR testing. This applies to all Vermont long term care centers, not just those experiencing outbreaks.
The outbreak at St. Albans Health and Rehab is believed to have entered the building from an employee who was unknowingly infected.
Vermont’s case count for Thursday was the highest case count since the beginning of the virus, though it was abnormally high due to the State discovering dozens of cases from the previous two weeks that had not been counted before.
