Natalie’s Commentary: The AARP recently published a detailed report of the extent of the tragedy that has occurred in the US in nursing homes. With only a small percentage (1%) of the US population, a very large percentage of the COVID-19 deaths have been in nursing homes. This is an absolute tragedy which must be corrected soon. ~ Natalie
From the AARP:
In one of the most devastating health debacles in our nation’s history, some 54,000 residents and workers in long-term care facilities died of causes related to the coronavirus within four months of the first known infection. That death toll has since crossed 100,000. Here’s the story of what happened this past spring, in the words of those who were there.
ON FEB. 29, a science and health website called Stat broke the news that “the new coronavirus” had surfaced in a long-term care facility outside Seattle. The headline hinted at the chaos to come: First COVID-19 Outbreak in a U.S. Nursing Home Raises Concerns
With its stately evergreens and five-star federal ratings, the Life Care Center of Kirkland appeared to be in top form. But within a matter of days, 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff started showing symptoms of a mysterious illness already rampaging through 46 countries, with more than 85,000 cases worldwide.
Whatever this wretched plague was, nursing homes would soon bear the brunt of its impact. By the fourth week in June, at least 54,000 residents and workers had died from the coronavirus in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in the United States. Nearly 264,000 people were infected across 9,912 facilities.
One statistic stands out: Residents of long-term care facilities constitute less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, yet 43 percent of all COVID-19 deaths through June occurred in those places. The number has changed little since.
For the residents, nursing assistants, doctors, families, administrators, public officials and “last responders” on the front lines, numbers alone cannot capture the terror, frustration, exhaustion and occasional miracle story that occurred during the early months of the crisis. In their own words, here’s how the situation unfolded during those first 18 weeks, up to the point in late June when newly reported COVID-19 cases in nursing homes began to stabilize.
But make no mistake: COVID-19 wasn’t vanquished from nursing homes in June. By Thanksgiving, the death toll in America’s long-term care facilities had surpassed 100,000, and each and every site is still grappling at this very moment with providing safety and care to its residents and workers as the pandemic continues unabated.
Continued at AARP