Thursday, May 28, 2020

Data: 42 Percent of US Coronavirus Deaths Are Linked to Nursing Homes, Where Less Than One Percent of Americans Live

The heartbreaking statistic relayed in my headline is not, as some have suggested, an attempt to diminish the tragedy of the tens of thousands of Americans who have died as a result of lethal Coronavirus outbreaks at nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Co/ylZ5EqAzWY Nursing homes & assisted living facilities now represent 42% of all deaths from the coronavirus-up from 40% earlier this month-and 52% outside of NY state.

Avik Roy May 26, 2020Remember that only 1.8% of U.S. residents live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, and yet these facilities have tallied 42% of all #COVID19 deaths.

New York leads the nation in the total number of statewide COVID deaths generally, as well as at nursing homes - but its overall percentage may still look somewhat favorable due to its government's decision to alter the manner in which such deaths are counted.

Thousands more people perished from the virus in New York nursing homes alone than in the entire state of Florida.

States like New York, New Jersey, and Michigan actually ordered nursing homes to accept patients with active COVID-19 infections who were being discharged from hospitals.

On March 15, before most states had locked down, DeSantis signed an executive order that banned nursing home visitations from friends and family, and also banned hospitals from discharging SARS-CoV-2-infected patients into long-term care facilities...While it is too late for thousands of nursing home residents who have already died, there is still time to protect the millions who remain, by learning from Florida's example.

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