32 Dead In LaSalle Veterans Home Coronavirus Outbreak

ILLINOIS — A coronavirus outbreak has claimed 32 lives at the LaSalle Veterans Home in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his Monday news conference. According to the most recent data, 39 out of 96 residents at the state-run home, along with 21 staff members, have also tested positive for the virus.

While the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and the governor's office are attempting to determine what caused the outbreak, IDVA Assistant Director Anthony Vaughn will step in as the interim administrator of the LaSalle Veterans Home. Pritzker said state and federal veterans affairs officials will continue to ensure that all safety measures are being enforced at veterans homes across the state.

"We will do everything possible to safeguard the lives of our heroes," Pritzker said.

State officials said Angela Mehlbrech, director of the LaSalle home, has been fired. The director of nursing at the facility has also been placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into how the facility handled the outbreak, NBC Chicago reported.

The current outbreak, according to the Associated Press, was identified in late October when a staff member and a resident tested positive for the virus. Since the beginning of November, two-thirds of residents and employees have tested positive.

Pritzker said these tragic losses serve as a painful reminder for what happens when community spread is rampant. The number of Illinoisans dying each day has surpassed the state's records in spring. He also said that this is true for the entire country where 1.5 Americans are dying every minute due to COVID-19.

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"The loss of lives at our LaSalle Veterans Home is heartbreaking," he said, "which is why I keep using every resource at my disposal to stop the community spread that makes this virus so insidious. We have grieved for far too many of these fatal outbreak in nursing homes in every corner of Illinois."

In LaSalle County, where positivity rates have been much higher than the state average despite mitigations and testing, there are three homes with outbreaks that were more fatal than this one, he said.

Pritzker said this virus preys on the elderly and it looks for a carrier to bring it inside the home even when steps are taken to follow mitigations. Even though the steps taken to curb the spread of the virus may seem small, they go a long way in preventing such tragedies.

"This is why I'm infuriated by those who oppose proven mitigations at every turn but now profess belated concern," he said. "The worst-case scenario that I've tried every day to prevent is now our reality in LaSalle."

Pritzker also said he mourns the more than 280 additional lives lost to coronavirus in Illinois over the weekend.

"I grieve with you that the refrain of vaccines as a light at the end of the tunnel rings hollow to you, because the light has already left you," he said.