4 residents of Lincoln Park nursing home die of COVID-19

CHICAGO - The COVID-19 pandemic is having devastating effects on nursing homes around the country and in Chicago.

One nursing home in Lincoln Park has been hit hard. Sadly, four residents have died and four staff members have tested positive.

Inside Friday night, there were several residents in their own rooms battling the virus and since we began covering the story earlier in the day, a new case was confirmed at the facility.

Behind the walls of Saint Mary’s nursing home, there has been an outbreak of coronavirus cases. Four residents have died, ages 71 to 97-years-old.

“I couldn’t see if it was in a body bag or not,” said Lincoln Park resident Mitchell Adams.

Adams lives across the street from the facility. He says since the coronavirus pandemic began, first responder activity has picked up at the nursing home.

“Definitely more ambulances, lights off, sirens off, coming down the wrong way, down the street,” Adams said.

Saint Mary’s is run by the Catholic organization Little Sisters of the Poor. Back in early March, they shut down the home to visitors to limit person-to-person spread. But by March 31, they reported their first case.

Now, they have even more.

“One resident in the apartments is self-isolating, taking care of him or herself,” said Sister Constance Veit, Little Sisters of the Poor Director of Communications. “Seven have tested positive who are still in the facility. They had one more today.”

FOX 32 did see workers getting off of their shifts, many wearing masks. The facility says they are running low on Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

“They’re fully dressed in PPE, so they don’t have cross contamination,” Sister Constance Veit said.

The nursing home says they are following CDC guidelines to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The Little Sisters of the Poor has a location in Palatine that currently has no cases of COVID-19.