Colchester — The state Department of Public Health said it has been closely monitoring an outbreak of COVID-19 at the Harrington Court nursing home and expects to cite the facility for infection control deficiencies.

Forty-six residents and 11 staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Av Harris, spokesman for DPH. The state reported two coronavirus-related deaths among residents in its weekly report on nursing homes. The facility currently has 77 residents.

Harrington Court notified DPH on Sept. 16 that a resident had tested positive for COVID-19. On Sept. 19, DPH learned that testing conducted on Sept. 16 and 18 revealed five positive residents and three positive staff, Harris said in an email late Thursday.

Public health surveyors inspected the facility on Sept. 18 and found several infection control deficiencies. The DPH has since conducted six follow-up inspections and found additional infection control issues, which the facility is addressing and for which it will be cited, Harris said.

DPH also authorized the facility to send 11 coronavirus-positive residents to Quinnipiac Valley Center in Wallingford, one of the state's four designated COVID-19 recovery facilities available to assist nursing homes managing large outbreaks.

Meanwhile, DPH's Healthcare-Associated Infections team has been working with Harrington Court to advise on further testing, cohorting and infection control measures. 

Harris said it's important to note there is a higher level of community transmission of the virus in eastern Connecticut, and that increases the risk of COVID-19 infection entering nursing homes.

Harrington Court is owned by Genesis Healthcare, which has 19 homes in Connecticut, including Harrington Court and Groton Regency, and 350 facilities nationwide.

More than 70% of Connecticut's COVID-19-related deaths, which numbered 4,511 as of Thursday evening, have involved nursing home residents. On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont released the final report and recommendations of Mathematica, a New Jersey-based policy-review organization that conducted an independent review of Connecticut nursing home performance during the pandemic.

Among the firm's recommendations is that the state consider requiring nursing homes to have a full-time infection specialist and that the state develop criteria for visitation in long-term care facilities.

In September, the state ordered the closure of the Three Rivers nursing home in Norwich, where 22 residents and six staff members were infected with COVID-19, and at least four residents died.

The last resident of Three Rivers was discharged Wednesday, according to Harris, and the facility currently is prohibited from admitting new residents. The appointment of a temporary manager ends Friday and the owners will resume full responsibility for the management and operation of the facility. The facility had 53 residents when the state ordered it to close on Sept. 14.

The Fairview Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Care Center in Groton, which had remained free of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, also is experiencing an outbreak. The first cases were reported Sept. 13. The state's weekly report indicates the facility has had a total of 11 residents test positive for the virus, with nine of the cases confirmed between Sept. 23 and 29. Two staff members also tested positive, according to the facility's executive director.

k.florin@theday.com