10 died in COVID-19 outbreak at Oswego nursing home

A COVID-19 outbreak claimed 10 lives at an Oswego nursing home, according to Illinois Department of Public Health and the Kendall County Health Department data.

There have been 74 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 10 deaths at Bickford of Oswego, at 3712 Grove Road, Oswego, since early November, according to information provided by RaeAnn VanGundy, KCHD executive director.

VanGundy, however, reported that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at the facility has dropped in recent weeks. As of Thursday, Dec. 17, she said Bickford of Oswego had only two active cases.

Bickford of Oswego’s outbreak is the largest reported in a long-term care facility in Kendall County since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March. During the spring and summer, Symphony at the Tillers of Oswego at 4390 Route 71, Oswego, had recorded the county’s previous largest outbreak with 50 cases and nine deaths.

Bickford of Oswego has not returned multiple requests for comment since their outbreak began. However, staff previously referred Record Newspapers to COVID-19 information listed on its website in addition to the KCHD. According to Bickford’s website, its Oswego facility requires twice-a-day temperature checks, mandatory PPE and isolation of infected residents.

Many nursing homes in Kendall County had kept cases low in the fall even as local community spread of the virus exploded.

Bickford of Oswego’s outbreak started to dampen earlier this month. Between Nov. 18 and Dec. 2, the facility’s cases had fallen from 27 to 16, according to the IDPH data.

Although nursing homes remain a small percentage of the county’s total cases, they account for about half of the county’s 25 COVID-19 deaths in December, according to IDPH and county health department data.

The following is a list of nursing home outbreaks in Kendall County within the past 28 days: