Administrator at Sunny Hill Nursing Home of Will County discusses COVID-19 numbers

An increase in COVID-19 cases from two to 17 at Sunny Hill Nursing Home of Will County did not all occur in one week, the administrator said.

"Since about three weeks have elapsed now, we have a total of 17," Administrator Maggie McDowell said.

Two Sunny Hill residents have died from the virus.

McDowell talked about efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus at the county-owned nursing home in Joliet, including a deep-cleaning of the 120,000-square-foot building, as a growing number of cases are being confirmed at long-term care facilities across Illinois.

"We're monitoring and confining people as much as possible," she said. "We have created a dedicated COVID-19 unit where we have our positive patients."

The numbers of cases at Illinois nursing homes has become more evident since the Illinois Department of Public Health first began posting statistics for individual long-term care facilities on April 18.

At that time, two cases and no deaths were listed for Sunny Hill.

When the next weekly report was issued Saturday, Sunny Hill was shown to have 17 cases and two deaths.

But McDowell said the report of two cases reflects Sunny Hill's initial report on April 8. The increase in cases has been more gradual than a one-week spike, she said.

State officials have acknowledged some lag time in the reported nursing home numbers amid the struggle to keep up with the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday, Sunny Hill still had 17 cases, McDowell said.

Seven of the cases have been among staff.

The worst hit nursing home in the state has been Symphony of Joliet, which had 105 cases as of Monday. Fifty of those cases were among staff.

The numbers posted by the state reflect both residents and staff, McDowell said.

"We continue to screen our staff, which we have been doing for a very long time now," she said.

Residents at Sunny Hill are among the most at risk for the virus, McDowell said. They are older even for a nursing home population.

"Our average age here is 87-plus years," McDowell said. "We also have a large number of residents who are hospice."