Officials at the Iron County Medical Care Facility said Thursday they have set up two separate units for treating residents stricken with COVID-19, along with a quarantine area for those who test positive.

According to the state’s data site, as of Wednesday, the care center in Crystal Falls has had 57 positives among residents –with eight COVID-related deaths — plus 39 cases among staff.

The facility currently has 30 residents and 10 staff members dealing with the virus, Administrator Chester Pintarelli said during a virtual “town hall” Thursday to provide more information on the situation.

The virus first surfaced in the dementia unit, said Craig Jestila, assistant administrator. Residents now are tested once a week, staff twice a week, and all are screened daily for signs of potential infection, administrators said.

Some staff also work exclusively in the COVID units to avoid spreading to other areas.

But the outbreak has meant no face-to-face visits, even for end-of-life for COVID positives, Jestila said. Families and friends have had to make due with seeing each other through a window or by virtual visits.

Group activities are suspended. Staff instead meet one-on-one with residents remaining in their rooms, and the facility offers entertainment and games that can be done remotely, such as virtual concerts.

The center will have to go 28 days without a new positive before it can consider relaxing those restrictions, Jestila said.

As staff has been affected, the facility has had to do recruiting and bring in “traveling” nurses and aides to fill in the gaps. A number of staff members have picked up extra shifts, Jestila said. ICMCF also has been willing to pay tuition and provide transportation to two area colleges for training to become a certified nursing assistant.

“This is a hard time for everyone involved,” Jestila said.

Though the virtual town hall had been posted as not taking questions, some who logged in expressed frustration at not being able to get more information. Staff encouraged them to submit an email.

For other care facilities in the area, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’s COVID-19 data site showed in Dickinson County that Manorcare Nursing and Rehab Center has reported 10 residents and six staff testing positive for the virus, with one resident dying. Freeman Nursing and Rehab in Kingsford has had three residents and four staff members positive.

In Iron County, the Iron River Care Center has had five COVID-19 positives but all so far have been among staff.

In Menominee County, Pinecrest Medical Care Facility in Powers has had only two cases, both in staff. Menominee Health Services indicated six positives among residents and two staff members affected, according to the state data site.

In other COVID-19-related developments in the region, the Forest Park School Board in Crystal Falls voted at a special meeting Thursday to let students and staff resume in-person classes Monday, even though the Dickinson-Iron District Health Department had recommended another week of virtual learning.

In Wisconsin, the Goodman-Armstrong Creek School District will close today and go to virtual learning Monday at least through Oct. 23, District Administrator/Principal Steven Bloom stated online in a letter. A schedule on breakfast and lunch distribution is expected to be posted on the district’s website and Facebook page.

Athletic events scheduled through today were to go on as planned. “All other extracurricular programs and activities scheduled during the closure will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis,” the letter advised.

Families are asked to contact their school if a child shows COVID-19 symptoms, for contact tracing purposes.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’s COVID-19 data site Thursday had 124 new positives in the Upper Peninsula: 33 in Delta and Houghton counties; 18 in Menominee County; 16 in Dickinson County; five in Baraga County; three in Iron and Gogebic counties; two in Alger, Chippewa, Keweenaw, Mackinac and Ontonagon counties; and one each in Marquette, Luce and Schoolcraft counties. The state had two new deaths in Delta County and one new death in Houghton — those were listed by those county’s health departments as well — plus one new death in Dickinson County that could not be immediately confirmed.

In total for the Upper Peninsula, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday had Keweenaw County with 12 confirmed cases and one probable; Luce County, 18 confirmed cases and three probable; Alger County, 25 confirmed and 11 probable; Schoolcraft County, 36 confirmed cases and four probable; Baraga County, 42 confirmed cases, 10 probable and three deaths; Ontonagon County, 47 confirmed and three probable; Chippewa County, 55 confirmed cases and 31 probable; Mackinac County, 65 confirmed cases and 21 probable; Gogebic County, 169 confirmed cases, 16 probable and a death; Dickinson County, 256 confirmed cases, three probable and four deaths; Iron County, 263 confirmed cases, four probable and 10 deaths; Marquette County, 380 confirmed cases, 99 probable and 12 deaths; Menominee County, 444 confirmed cases, 77 probable and three deaths; Houghton County, 639 confirmed cases, 128 probable and four deaths; and Delta County, 690 confirmed cases, 91 probable and 13 deaths. State numbers are updated daily but can lag behind local reports or have other discrepancies.

Using only the state figures Thursday, the Upper Peninsula has had 3,141 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date with 50 deaths.

The MDHHS reported 1,197 confirmed new COVID-19 cases in Michigan on Thursday for a total of 132,039 to date. The state added 22 new deaths Thursday — including 20 that happened earlier but recently were verified through vital records and testing, according to the MDHHS — for a total of 6,869.

For Wisconsin counties in the region, the state Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 data site Thursday had 24 new cases in Marinette County, 12 in Vilas County, eight in Forest County, and one each in Florence and Iron counties.

The DHS on Thursday had Marinette County with 1,191 confirmed cases, 44 probable cases and nine deaths; Forest County, 354 confirmed, six probable and seven deaths; Vilas County, 319 confirmed, 13 probable and a death; Iron County, 150 confirmed, eight probable and one death; and Florence County, 121 confirmed and two deaths. As with the Michigan data, the state numbers are updated daily but can lag behind local reports or have other discrepancies.

Wisconsin had 3,132 new positives in the state Thursday — another new single-day record and the first time the state has topped 3,000 in one day — for a total of 141,830, according to the state DHS data site. The state added nine new COVID-19 deaths Thursday to reach 1,424.

Testing at Dickinson County Healthcare System as of Thursday showed 60 positives from Dickinson County and 151 cases from other counties; those counties are not identified. DCHS has tested 4,748 people for COVID-19, with 211 positive, 4,379 negative and 160 results still pending. DCHS noted there are several additional sources of testing in Dickinson County.

The MDHHS indicated DCHS had three COVID-19 patients hospitalized, with one in intensive care.