The fall resurgence of COVID-19 has crept into Concordia Lutheran Ministries' facilities across Butler County with new cases reported this week.

According to combined reports by the company, across all of Concordia's county locations roughly 27 residents and 26 employees have active cases of the virus.

“As community spread increases, so do the numbers at long-term care facilities,” said Frank Skrip, spokesman for Concordia Lutheran Ministries. “As much as everyone tries to do the right things, this is a highly contagious virus, so it's sneaking its way back into our facility.”

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Concordia at the Orchard has 10 residents and four staff members who currently have active cases.

At Concordia at Cabot, eight employees from the Lund Personal Care on the Concordia at Cabot campus as well as 10 personal care residents and three employees in Concordia at Cabot Skilled Nursing facility have COVID-19.

Concordia of Cranberry has seven residents and one employee with active cases. More employees have tested positive in Concordia's home and community service organizations, including eight from Concordia Visiting Nurses and two from Good Samaritan Hospice.

“We anticipate several of those cases to be resolving in the next several days,” Skrip said.

The Cranberry location is the only Concordia facility to report any deaths related to the recent spike in cases. Four residents have died, all of whom had comorbidities, which are pre-existing conditions that also contributed to their deaths.

Concordia had a number of residents and staff who contracted the virus in the spring, which resulted in at least two deaths.

Concordia at the Orchard is not the only long-term care facility in the county to report cases of COVID-19.

According to a data table on the Pennsylvania Department of Health's website, 24 county facilities have reported positive cases, totaling 480 cases in residents and 64 cases in employees. Thus far, 29 residents of county facilities have died due to COVID-19.

Multiple Lutheran SeniorLife facilities in the county reported outbreaks in early November. The St. John Campus had 38 residents and nine employees with active cases between Oct. 23 and Nov. 5.

The spread has since slowed. From Nov. 6 to Nov. 26, the facility reported 10 more residents and 12 more employees tested positive.

However, in the past two weeks, the company's Passavant campus has reported four cases in residents and six in employees.

While the fall surge has reached multiple facilities in the county, there have also been some improvements since the outbreaks in the spring.

For example, Concordia locations have upgraded equipment, such as disinfectant fog machines and other cleaning supplies that help disinfect every surface. Some of their facilities also have ultraviolet cleaning equipment in the ventilation system.

Skrip said probably the most important difference is the level of information the workers have now. He said early in the pandemic, guidance and information about the virus was constantly changing and evolving.

“Our staff at this point are inundated with infection control training,” Skrip said. “Those nurses are keeping up with the most up-to-date recommendations, so Concordia knows exactly what is expected.”

While visitation varies between locations, visitation has been limited or restricted at most of Concordia's locations. The only exception to visitation policies is for end-of-life visitation.

“Those visitors will still be screened and wear PPE. It's a balance between compassion and pandemic,” Skrip said.

Skrip said the latest outbreak is an indication that the virus is not going away, and with so many cases circulating it was bound to happen. He said Concordia employees will do everything they can to help guide patients and residents through the virus surge.

“You hate to say that this is becoming routine. We're just doing our best for our patients, residents and their families,” Skrip said.