Of the 26 total active cases, two people are hospitalized, according to the Essex County Health Department.

Nursing home residents are among the highest-risk populations amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of Aug. 13, more than 402,000 people at some 17,000 facilities across the country have been infected by the coronavirus, the New York Times reported last week. At least 68,000 people have died, accounting for roughly 41% of total COVID-19 deaths in the United States.

An Essex Center employee was the first to test positive on July 27. By July 30, the county Health Department reported zero active cases of COVID-19. Center staff have been equipped with personal protective equipment since March, but the virus still spread.

Following the death of a person who entered the nursing home for emergency medical care — and who wasn’t isolated outside of the facility prior to their death, according to Essex County Public Health Director Linda Beers — all other residents were tested. Center staff are tested once a week.

The Essex Center has now moved positive residents into a different part of the building, and created a COVID-19-only section to be staffed by a separate set of employees. The county Health Department said “numerous steps” have been taken to prevent more COVID-19 cases.

Essex County has seen a total of 111 positive cases of COVID-19 since March, 95 of those test-confirmed and 16 suspected.