Report: ‘Nearly 40%’ Of All Coronavirus Deaths Nationwide Occurred In Nursing Homes

According to report by The Wall Street Journal, 40% all COVID-19-related deaths in the United States happened in nursing homes.

This number would account for more than 50,000 of the nearly 110,000 deaths America has witnessed in the past few months.

The news outlet reported on Tuesday, “A Wall Street Journal tally of state data compiling fatalities from Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, underscores the virus’s heavy cost to those living in long-term care facilities.”

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WSJ: ‘Deaths among senior-care center staff and residents appear to represent at least 40% of the overall count of more than 116,000 U.S. fatalities related to Covid-19’

“Deaths among senior-care center staff and residents appear to represent at least 40% of the overall count of more than 116,000 U.S. fatalities related to Covid-19 as compiled by Johns Hopkins University,” the WSJ noted.

The WSJ’s analysis also discovered that about 250,000 nursing home residents, caregivers, and other employees contracted COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, which would mean nursing homes made up nearly 25% of all U.S. coronavirus infections.

An estimated 50,919 died among those 250,000 cases. The data on COVID-19 deaths lags by several weeks for many states.

In states like Michigan, data on nursing home infections was not readily available.

“The Journal’s tally of the latest state data shows more than 51,000 COVID-19-associated deaths tied to long-term-care facilities, including nursing homes and assisted-living sites, along with more than 250,000 cases,” the WSJ observed. “The counts likely understate the full impact of the outbreak—which has also hit senior facilities hard in other countries—because of reporting lags and incomplete information from some states.”

On Monday, Politico reported that many of the facilities accepting COVID-19-positive patients were never inspected by either government officials, state or federal, which would have left residents open to mistakenly incorrect policies.

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Politico: ‘For more than two months, state inspectors failed to enter half the country’s homes’

“In March, the Trump administration paused routine nursing home inspections, which typically occur about once a year,” Politico reported. “Instead, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asked that state agencies focus on inspecting facilities for their infection control practices, such as whether staff wash their hands or properly wear protective clothing before tending to multiple patients.”

“But for more than two months, state inspectors failed to enter half the country’s homes,” Politico noted.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are now changing course, and many states have reversed their policies, however slowly, and yet still too late for many of the most vulnerable adults in the U.S.