8 dead, 89 infected after Covid outbreak at Connecticut nursing home

Eight residents of a Connecticut nursing home have died since the start of a coronavirus outbreak that has infected 89 others, officials said.

Twenty-two staffers and 67 residents of Geer Village Senior Community in North Canaan have tested positive for Covid since Sept. 30, according to a statement from the facility. North Canaan is on the Connecticut-Massachusetts border. 

“Sadly, we have lost 8 residents with serious underlying health issues,” the statement said. 

The outbreak is isolated to the center’s skilled nursing facility, which currently has 70 residents. The assisted living facility was not affected. As of Nov. 15, the home had three active cases.

All but two of the infected staffers and residents were fully vaccinated. “We are obviously concerned we experienced some level of waning immunity,” the nursing home’s most recent statement said.  

However, those at Geer are not eligible for booster shots until the center has gone more than two weeks without any new Covid cases.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health said it was monitoring the facility.

“Family members of residents in long-term care facilities should also encourage their loved ones being cared for in these facilities to get a booster vaccine,” a DPH spokesperson told NBC-owned NECN.

Visitation to the home is prohibited until further notice.