Page 23 - HOH_Neat

A3
U.S. NEWS Monday 9 noveMber 2020
Nursing home COVID-19 cases rise four-fold in surge states

By RICARDO ALONSO- virus is spreading.
ZALDIVAR — During the same period,
Associated Press nearly 1 in 5 nursing homes
WASHINGTON (AP) — De- reported shortages of basic
spite Trump administration protective supplies such as
efforts to erect a protec- masks and gowns.
tive shield around nursing — Nearly 1 in 4 facilities
homes, coronavirus cases reported a nurse staffing
are surging within facilities shortage.
in states hard hit by the lat- Most of the states in the
est onslaught of COVID-19. study are in the middle and
An analysis of federal data northern tiers of the coun-
from 20 states for The As- try. The Commons, a senior
sociated Press finds that living community in Enid,
new weekly cases among Oklahoma, that includes a
residents rose nearly four- nursing home, is in a coro-
fold from the end of May navirus hotspot. The oil and
to late October, from 1,083 gas hub has a positive rate
to 4,274. Resident deaths approaching 18%. A local
more than doubled, from mask mandate has twice
318 a week to 699, accord- been shot down, said Ste-
ing to the study by Univer- ven Walkingstick, CEO of
sity of Chicago health re- The Commons.
searchers Rebecca Gorges "From my standpoint, a
and Tamara Konetzka. mandate unfortunately is
Equally concerning, weekly needed," said Walkingstick.
cases among nursing home "I don't want the govern-
staff in surge states more ment involved, but evi-
than quadrupled, from 855 dence has shown we are
the week ending May 31, In this May 8, 2020, file photo registered nurses Beth Andrews, top, and Erin Beauchemin work with not going to do this volun-
to 4,050 the week ending a patient in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. tarily."
Oct. 25. That rings alarms Associated Press Walkingstick said he be-
because infected staffers lieves the U.S. has gotten
not yet showing symptoms ing into cold weather sea- getting into, or to prepare, how to do things better," better at saving the lives of
are seen as the most likely son when many experts ex- prepare, and prepare, and she said. Other academic COVID-19 patients, but not
way the virus gets into facil- pect the virus will be harder then have it hit," she said. experts have reached simi- at keeping the virus out of
ities. When those unwitting to contain. The seven-day Responding to the study lar conclusions. nursing homes.
staffers test positive, they rolling average for daily findings, the federal Cen- Highly rated by Medicare, Thorson, head of the Fort
are sidelined from caring new cases stood at nearly ters for Medicare and St. Paul Elder Services in Dodge facility, said it takes
for residents, raising pres- 104,000 on Saturday, ac- Medicaid Services issued a Kaukauna, Wisconsin, has a lot of effort to try to keep
sures on remaining staff. cording to data from Johns statement saying that "the had 72 COVID-19 cases the virus out, and it's de-
The administration has al- Hopkins University. bottom line is that the CO- among residents and 74 moralizing to see it break
located $5 billion to nurs- Nursing homes and other VID-19 pandemic's effect among staff, according to through.
ing homes, shipped nearly long-term care facilities ac- on nursing homes is com- its Facebook page. The first "Don't forget about us, be-
14,000 fast-test machines count for about 1% of the plex and multifactorial." case among residents was cause we are still here, do-
with a goal of supplying U.S. population, but rep- The agency noted differ- Aug. 19, and 15 have died, ing the best we can in rural
every facility and tried to resent 40% of COVID-19 ent ways the administra- said the facility's president, areas," she said.
shore up stocks of protec- deaths, according to the tion has worked to help Sondra Norder. The 20 states analyzed in
tive equipment. But the COVID Tracking Project. nursing homes and said "The outcomes are really the study were Alaska, Ar-
data call into question the In Fort Dodge, a manu- its focus now was on en- not much different here kansas, Iowa, Idaho, In-
broader White House game facturing and transporta- suring that residents and than they were in New York diana, Kansas, Kentucky,
plan, one that pushes states tion center in north-central staff would "immediately" back earlier in the pan- Minnesota, Missouri, Mon-
to reopen while maintain- Iowa, Julie Thorson said she have access to a vaccine demic," Norder said. "It's tana, Nebraska, New Mex-
ing that vulnerable people knew she was in for a bad once approved. But it also been called the perfect ico, North Dakota, Ohio,
can be cocooned, even if week when several em- added that facilities "bear killing machine of the el- Oklahoma, South Dakota,
the virus rebounds around ployees at the Friendship the primary responsibility derly, especially those who Utah, Wisconsin, West Vir-
them. Haven nursing home tested for keeping their residents live in congregate settings." ginia, and Wyoming. They
"Trying to protect nurs- positive last Monday. As safe." Kaukauna is a small city were selected because
ing home residents with- president of the senior living "Many times, the likely about 100 miles north of they're now seeing their
out controlling community community, Thorson con- causes of nursing home Milwaukee. highest hospitalization rates
spread is a losing battle," tacted the county health outbreaks are simply nurs- The study, based on data for COVID-19.q
said Konetzka, a nationally department. "They were ing homes failing to comply reported by nursing homes
recognized expert on long- basically not surprised be- with basic infection control to the government, also
term care. "Someone has to cause they're seeing it all rules," the statement said. raised other concerns:
care for vulnerable nursing over the county," she said. But Konetzka said her re- — For the week ending
home residents, and those Residents also started test- search has shown that nurs- Oct. 25, about 1 in 6 nurs-
caregivers move in and out ing positive. The facility had ing home quality has no ing homes in surge states
of the nursing home daily, 11 new cases among resi- significant effect on cases did not report having test-
providing an easy pathway dents, as of Friday. and deaths once commu- ed staff the prior week.
for the virus to enter." "I was thinking all night nity spread is factored in. Government requirements
The nation is setting records what's worse, to have it hit "It's not like the high-quality call for staff testing at least
for coronavirus cases head- and not know what you are facilities have figured out weekly in areas where the