6 suspected COVID-19 deaths now reported at Woodstock's Sheltered Village

Two more Sheltered Village residents died this week in relation to an outbreak of COVID-19 at the Woodstock facility, meaning a total of six residents now have died, McHenry County interim Coroner Lt. John Miller said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the facility reported that two more staff and five more residents tested positive for the virus, bringing the total to 14 staff and 19 residents, including six deaths.

Sheltered Village, a home for developmentally disabled adults, had its fifth resident confirmed dead because of COVID-19 on Tuesday, Miller said.

Another resident died Wednesday, and it is suspected that the resident died because of the coronavirus, but the coroner’s office still is awaiting testing results, he said. Another is at the hospital in critical condition because of the virus.

Meanwhile, a fire alarm went off at the facility Thursday morning, causing a full evacuation of the home’s 89 residents, Captain Brendan Parker of the Woodstock Fire/Rescue District said.

Fire district officials responded to a 10:15 a.m. call Thursday for an active fire alarm at Sheltered Village that was triggered by a faulty detector in one of the building’s air ducts, Parker said.

“In the ductwork that goes up to the rooftop [heating] unit, there’s a detector there that they’re going to have to get fixed,” he said. “Evacuation-wise, that’s their protocol for when the alarms go off.”

The facility’s residents were only outside for a matter of 5 to 10 minutes before they were able to safely reenter the building, Parker said.

Business Manager at Sheltered Village Lauren Schlendorf said someone will be coming to fix the detectors.

All residents were in isolation at the time. The McHenry County Health Department emailed the facility Thursday saying that the K95 masks that half the staff had been using are no longer appropriate. The facility is currently in need of N95 masks, Schlendorf said.

“We are using proper PPE. We had [an Illinois Department of Public Health] inspection control nurse in here yesterday, and she said that we’re doing everything that we possibly can to help minimize the spread,” she said.

Sheltered Village received three oxygen concentrators from Advocate, which are sufficient for the facility’s needs, Schlendorf said.

Sheltered Village has been on lockdown since March 17 and is working with the MCDH to minimize the spread of the virus within the home, according to the release.

As of Thursday evening, the MCDH reported that there have been 12 deaths because of COVID-19 in the county, with a total of 289 confirmed cases. IDPH reported 13 deaths in the county.