For Most States, At Least A Third Of COVID-19 Deaths Are In Long-Term Care Facilities [quarantined]

Coronavirus fatalities in long-term care facilities have surpassed a grim threshold in much of the country, accounting for at least a third of the deaths in 26 states and more than half in 14 of those.

The data, which was published by the Kaiser Family Foundation, reports tallies from a variety of care facilities, including nursing homes, adult care residences, and other skilled nursing care settings. However, it does not break out those categories separately.

The report comes as states prepared to meet a federal reporting deadline Friday...

Priya Chidambaram, a policy analyst with the foundation...expects that skilled nursing facilities will continue to be hot spots for the spread of the virus now that 18 states that have so far declined to publicly report data, hand information over to the CDC.

According to the report, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania reported the highest share of coronavirus deaths — 72% and 70% respectively.

However, the total deaths behind those ratios vary widely from state to state. In the case of New Hampshire, 66 of 114 total deaths occurred in long-term care facilities. Whereas, in Pennsylvania the slightly lower percentage represents a much greater death toll — 2,355 of 3,364 deaths...

New York has the highest number of overall deaths related to COVID-19 in the country. It also has the highest death rate in what Kaiser Family Foundation describes as long-term care facilities...20% of the state's total number of dead. New Jersey had the second-highest rate with 4,556 reported cases in their facilities, 53% of the state's total death toll.

Excerpt. Related:

Cuomo says it’s ‘shocking’ most new coronavirus hospitalizations are people who had been staying home Published Wed, May 6 202012:25 PM EDTUpdated Thu, May 7 202011:22 AM EDT .. The preliminary data was from 100 New York hospitals involving about 1,000 patients, Cuomo said at his daily briefing.

Who is Getting Hospitlized? Source: New York State (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/06/ny-gov-cuomo-says-its-shocking-most-new-coronavirus-hospitalizations-are-people-staying-home.html)

NY's COVID-19 stats show African-Americans, Hispanics, nursing homes at higher risk as reopening looms David Robinson, New York State Team Published 5:00 a.m. ET May 8, 2020. The majority of about 1,200 people who were recently hospitalized due to COVID-19 in New York were living at home and 83% were not working, suggesting the coronavirus remains a threat despite social-distancing policies, new state data showed.

Of those hospitalized, 66% were living at home and 18% were nursing home residents, who remain the most vulnerable to COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. At-risk people living in assisted-living and group homes, as well as jails and prisons, accounted for about 7% of cases.

Further, 96% of those hospitalized had underlying health conditions. (https://www.lohud.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/05/08/nys-covid-19-deaths-top-20-000-race-ethnicity-risks-unresolved/3090578001/)

With 80 % of new coronavirus deaths in Pennsylvania at nursing and personal care homes, lawmakers demand answers. By Ford Turner

The Morning Call | May 07, 2020. (https://www.mcall.com/coronavirus/mc-nws-pa-homes-tragedy-virus-20200507-yw2cck3cnvfvnc5bx6jm6ayjga-story.html)

Nursing homes epicenter of COVID-19 deaths

by KRISTINE FRAZAO, Sinclair Broadcast GroupWednesday, April 29th 2020. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, "Nearly 70 dead in ‘horrific’ outbreak at veterans home." In The Guardian, "Half of coronavirus deaths happen in care homes, data from EU suggests."

And as reported in The Baltimore Sun, brand new numbers out of the state of Maryland showed the same, that out of the state's 929 confirmed COVID-19 related deaths, 471 were in nursing homes, statistics that echo some other states as well.

“When you’re looking at numbers like that you kind of have to realize that nursing home and assisted living facilities and all long-term care facilities really are the epicenter of this pandemic," said Priya Chidambaram, a Policy Analyst with The Kaiser Family Foundation, in an interview Wednesday. She added that in addition to restricting visitors, policies at most facilities have already seen drastic changes.

May 6, 2020, Editorial: Newsom’s failed response to COVID-19 nursing home deaths At least 41% of California coronavirus deaths from eldercare facilities, and cases there are increasing rapidly

(https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/06/editorial-newsom-falters-as-covid-19-nursing-home-cases-soar/)

Florida nursing home deaths from COVID-19 spike dramatically: up to 22 at a single home. May 08, 202. Florida health officials released stark new data late Friday showing that deaths in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities appear to have accounted for 60 percent of the deaths in Florida this past week from COVID-19.

The Florida Department of Health reported a total of 665 deaths from COVID-19 at such facilities, an increase of 242 deaths from last week’s report. In the same time period, the state’s overall toll increased by 401 deaths. (https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article242612856.html)

Majority of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and assisted living facilities By steve - May 6, 2020. (Montevideo, MN) – Numbers of COVID-19 cases continue grow across Minnesota. An update this morning from Department of Health says that there are now over 8500 cases of COVID-19 in the state and 485 fatalities. The vast majority of these fatalities are from long term care or assisted living facilities. (http://kdmanews.com/2020/05/06/majority-of-covid-19-deaths-in-nursing-homes-and-assisted-living-facilities/)

“Residents of long-term care facilities account for a little under 1 percent of Minnesota’s population. However, they account for 15 percent of Minnesota’s COVID-19 cases, 23 percent of the hospitalizations and very, very startlingly, 80 percent of the COVID-19 deaths that we’ve seen in our state,” said Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm on Thursday. (https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/05/08/deaths-in-nursing-homes-spur-officials-to-increase-testing-bolster-staff-levels)

Long Beach releases more details on coronavirus cases at individual long-term care facilities Kelly Puente Apr 24 5:57 pm. In Long Beach, more than 82% of deaths are connected to long-term care facilities. As of Wednesday, the city said that 24 of 29 total fatalities have been linked to long-term care facilities. (https://lbpost.com/news/long-beach-releases-more-details-on-coronavirus-deaths-at-individual-long-term-care-facilities)

Majority of all Mass. coronavirus deaths linked to care facilities

By Wilsin Ring / The Associated Press Posted May 3, 2020. Long-term care facilities in Massachusetts accounted for nearly 60% of all coronavirus-related deaths in the state, one of the highest publicly reported rates in the country. (https://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20200503/majority-of-all-mass-coronavirus-deaths-linked-to-care-facilities)

More than half of Maine’s coronavirus deaths have been nursing home residents. By Matthew Stone, BDN Staff • April 25, 2020 (https://bangordailynews.com/2020/04/25/news/state/more-than-half-of-maines-coronavirus-deaths-have-been-nursing-home-residents/)

More than half of Erie County Covid-19 deaths came from nursing homes By Sandra Tan Published May 8, 2020. County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Friday that 55% of all confirmed Covid-19 deaths involved nursing home residents – and that number may understate the nursing home death toll. (https://buffalonews.com/2020/05/08/erie-county-passes-4000-mark-in-confirmed-covid-19-cases/)

Majority of Washington state coronavirus deaths in care facilities

By Ted O'Neil | The Center Square May 8, 2020. (The Center Square) – New numbers from the Washington State Department of Health show that 61 percent of coronavirus deaths there are linked in some way to long-term care facilities while making up just 19 percent of the state’s overall cases. There are currently 16,231 confirmed cases statewide and 891 deaths.

(https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/majority-of-washington-state-coronavirus-deaths-in-care-facilities/article_2d60295e-9159-11ea-a2f6-9ff09fcb680f.html)

Majority of Alexandria COVID-19 deaths were in long-term care sites, as city seeks better pay, benefits for workers

Dan Friedell

May 2, 2020, 8:29 PM. By Saturday, there had been 26 deaths in Alexandria, Virginia, due to COVID-19. Fifteen of them (58%) were residents of long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted-living communities.

The death rate is reflected across Virginia, where 54% of deaths due to the coronavirus outbreak have come in similar facilities. (https://wtop.com/alexandria/2020/05/majority-of-alexandria-covid-19-deaths-were-in-long-term-care-sites-as-city-seeks-better-pay-pay-benefits-for-workers/)

Majority of coronavirus deaths in Nebraska at nursing homes May 2, 2020. About two-thirds of deaths from the coronavirus in Nebraska have involved residents of long-term care facilities, the governor said.

Nebraska has reported 4,838 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, and 73 deaths. (https://apnews.com/b1fceb36cc58a2e68826e0344d33b9a5)

Coronavirus Deaths in U.S. Nursing, Long-Term Care Facilities Top 10,000 [4-22] (https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-deaths-in-u-s-nursing-long-term-care-facilities-top-10-000-11587586237)

Nursing homes linked to up to half of coronavirus deaths in Europe, WHO says (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/nursing-homes-coronavirus-deaths-europe/2020/04/23/d635619c-8561-11ea-81a3-9690c9881111_story.html)

MIT study: Subways a ‘major disseminator’ of coronavirus in NYC New York Post ^ | 15 April 20 | David Meyer A new study argues that city subways and buses were a “major disseminator” of the coronavirus in the Big Apple. The paper, by MIT economics professor and physician Jeffrey Harris, points to a parallel between high ridership “and the rapid, exponential surge in infections” in the first two weeks of March — when the subways were still packed with up to 5 million riders per day — as well as between turnstile entries and virus hotspots. “New York City’s multitentacled subway system was a major disseminator — if not the principal transmission vehicle — of coronavirus infection during the initial..

The Effects of Temperature and Relative Humidity on the Viability of the SARS Coronavirus... In the present study, we have demonstrated that SARS CoV can survive at least two weeks after drying at temperature and humidity conditions found in an air-conditioned environment. The virus is stable for 3 weeks at room temperature in a liquid environment but it is easily killed by heat at 56°C [132.8] for 15 minutes [9]. This indicates that SARS CoV is a stable virus that may potentially be transmitted by indirect contact or fomites. These results may indicate that contaminated surfaces may play a major role in transmission of infection in the hospital and the community.

In this study, we showed that high temperature at high relative humidity has a synergistic effect on inactivation of SARS CoV viability while lower temperatures and low humidity support prolonged survival of virus on contaminated surfaces. The environmental conditions of countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand are thus not conducive to the prolonged survival of the virus. In countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong where there is a intensive use of air-conditioning, transmission largely occurred in well-air-conditioned environments such as hospitals or hotels. Further, a separate study has shown that during the epidemic, the risk of increased daily incidence of SARS was 18.18-fold higher in days with a lower air temperature than in days with a higher temperature in Hong Kong [24] and other regions [15–17].

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