State focuses on short-term residents to shield nursing homes from COVID cases Jenna Carlesso, ctmirror.org FacebookTwitterEmail Four months ago, even as the coronavirus vaccine was making its way to Connecticut and the promise of protection drew close to reality, nursing homes were weathering another increase in COVID-19 cases. Testing inside the facilities was accelerating, special recovery centers for COVID-positive residents were taking on more patients, and illnesses among employees meant that many buildings were short-staffed. In December, 70 to 80 nursing home residents were dying per week. By the end of that month, more than 100 fatalities were recorded some weeks. The outlook has improved since then. With more than 14,000 nursing home residents and more than 16,000 workers fully vaccinated, the state recorded just nine new cases and one new death during the final week of March.