Lantern House homeless shelter COVID-19 outbreak infects 26 | News, Sports, Jobs



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OGDEN – A COVID-19 epidemic in Lantern House infected 26 people in the homeless center, said Lauren Navidomskis, director of Lantern House.

“We are in the middle of a wave, of an epidemic,” she said on Friday.

The initial case was revealed last Tuesday when a Lantern House resident reported symptoms of COVID-19. The resident then tested positive for COVID-19 and subsequent tests of the other residents found 25 more infected.

TIM VANDENACK, standard examiner

Celia Woodcock, a nurse practitioner, left, and Laurie Brown, a registered nurse, help in a COVID-19 vaccination clinic held on March 31, 2021, at the Lantern House homeless shelter in Ogden. Weber-Morgan health department officials are opening guidelines at Dee Events Center’s main vaccination clinic to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

“I’m sure there will be more. I don’t think we are going to double that number, ”Navidomskis said. The 26 infected represent 14.1% of the 184 people housed at Lantern House last Tuesday.

An outbreak at Lantern House in October 2020 resulted in the infection of 48 people. Two of those who tested positive died, although the cause of death was not immediately confirmed. This epidemic has not wreaked so much havoc.

“Fortunately, at the moment we don’t have one in the severe symptoms category,” Navidomskis said.

Once the initial case was discovered, Lantern House officials activated the facility’s COVID-19 response plan. The dormitories where the infected people were staying were emptied and cleaned. Healthy residents have been moved from the family quarters of Lantern House to hotels so that the space can be converted into an isolation wing to house those infected.

According to Navidomskis, having experienced a similar situation a year ago has helped. “It has not been difficult to reactivate the COVID response plan,” she said.

“As we had a surge of cases at the end of the summer, it’s no surprise that Lantern House experiences periodic outbreaks,” said Amy Carter, Weber-Morgan Health Servicenurse in epidemiology and communicable diseases. The health department has worked with Lantern House throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, but there is still a risk in places where people congregate.

Of the 26 people infected in the last outbreak, half were vaccinated. Health workers are monitoring them regularly as they recover and Navidomskis hopes the situation will stabilize in the next two weeks or so.

Department of Health officials had no further details of the Lantern House situation, but would reach out to offer help. Lantern House currently houses around 160 people.

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