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A26 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 16 april 2020
Feds under pressure to publicly track nursing home outbreaks

CANDICE CHOI and Mark Parkinson, the head of that governors in several
JIM MUSTIAN the American Health Care states, including Florida,
Associated Press Association, which repre- Maryland and Wisconsin,
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal sents nursing homes and have deployed the Nation-
officials are coming under assisted-living facilities, said al Guard to run tests, tend
increasing pressure to start a national reporting system to the sick, even evacuate
publicly tracking corona- for homes could at least residents.
virus infections and deaths help prioritize the potential "You're not going to slow
in nursing homes amid criti- hot spots most in need of down the spread if you
cism they have not been testing and personal pro- don't know you have it,"
transparent enough in re- tective equipment such as said Julie Moore, a certified
sponding to an explosion of masks and gowns. nursing assistant at a home
outbreaks that has already That lack of PPE and man- in Philadelphia, where an
claimed thousands of lives. datory testing for residents outbreak has claimed mul-
Public health experts say and staff are among the tiple lives and sickened
the lack of transparency This April 8, 2020, file photo shows a patient being evacuated gaps experts say have al- workers.
has been a major blind- from the Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Riverside, lowed deaths to continue To screen for infections, she
spot, and that publicizing Calif. mounting at nursing homes, said her home asks work-
outbreaks as they happen Associated Press. despite federal officials or- ers to fill out questionnaires
could not only alert near- timately killed 43 people — but has so far refused to dering them in mid-March about their symptoms and
by communities and an- and a near-daily drumbeat detail specific outbreaks, to ban visitors and stop exposure. But she said "you
guished relatives but also of new cases that in some citing privacy concerns. group activities. could be asymptomatic
help officials see where cases has forced entire New York Health Commis- Chris Laxton, executive di- and you could transfer the
to focus testing and other homes to be evacuated. sioner Howard Zucker said rector of the The Society virus to the residents."
safety measures. Because the federal gov- this week that even releas- for Post-Acute and Long- An AP report earlier this
"This is basic public health ernment has not been re- ing total numbers by nurs- Term Care Medicine, said it month found that infec-
— you track this, you study leasing a count of its own, ing homes could violate would be extremely helpful tions were continuing to
it, and you learn from it," The Associated Press has the privacy of individuals, to have a national data- find their way into nurs-
said David Grabowski, who been keeping its own run- which is protected under base "to see the beginnings ing homes because such
specializes in health care ning tally based on media federal health privacy law. of a picture emerge of how screenings didn't catch
policy at Harvard Medical reports and state health "The issue is here as I've completely dire the situa- people who were infected
School. He said it's difficult departments. The AP's lat- mentioned previously, this tion is in nursing homes. Not but asymptomatic.
to have confidence in offi- est count of at least 4,412 is their home. The nursing only is it underreported, but Several large outbreaks
cials' ability to contain the deaths is up from about 450 homes are their home," he we're nowhere near the were blamed on such
virus if they aren't track- just two weeks ago. said. peak and it's continuing to spreaders, including in-
ing where it has struck and Many individual states "It's just scandalous not to surge." fected health workers who
why. have added to the lack tell the public which fa- Outbreaks include one in worked at several different
Such an action by the of transparency by releas- cilities have the virus," said suburban Richmond, Vir- nursing home facilities.
agencies that oversee ing only totals of infections Charlene Harrington, a ginia that has killed 45, one Dr. Deborah Birx, who leads
the nation's 15,000 nurs- and deaths and not details professor emerita at the at a veteran's home in Holy- the White House corona-
ing homes is seen as long about specific outbreaks. University of California San oke, Mass., that has killed virus response, is among
overdue, coming more Foremost among them is Francisco and former state 40 and another at a home federal officials who have
than a month after a nurs- the nation's leader, New health official. "Even some in central Indiana that has recently suggested that
ing home in Washington York, which accounts for staff members don't know. claimed 22 lives. nursing homes should be
state became the first CO- more than 2,200 nursing They're hiding it because it's Staff at others homes are given top priority as more
VID-19 hot spot in the U.S. home deaths — 20% of the bad for business and it's just overwhelmed and the COVID-19 tests become
with an outbreak that ul- state's entire death total horrible." death toll is climbing so fast available.q

WWE cuts wrestlers after Florida deems it ‘essential’

public." The amendment ers, including ones known
allows World Wrestling En- professionally as Karl An-
tertainment, run by CEO derson and Luke Gallows.
Vince McMahon in the Anderson and Gallows
Orlando area, to continue were both involved in the
putting on shows — with- WrestleMania card earlier
out fans. WWE announced this month that largely in-
Wednesday it made vari- cluded taped matches in
ous moves to cut costs and an empty arena.
improve cash flow, includ- DeSantis, a Republican,
ing: reducing the salaries said at a news conference
A trailer set up near a satellite truck to transmit wrestling broadcasts is parked outside the WWE of executives and board Tuesday that people are
Performance Center Tuesday, April 14, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. membes; decreasing op- "champing at the bit" for
Associated Press. erating expenses; cutting new entertainment to boost
STAMFORD, Conn (AP) — with the company allowed ted to stay open in an April talent expenses, third par- morale while housebound.
WWE started releasing to continue to run live TV 9 memorandum to include ty staffing and consulting; He also would like to see
professional wrestlers on shows in Florida after Gov. "employees at a profession- and deferring spending other sporting events, may-
Wednesday in budget cuts Ron DeSantis deemed al sports and media pro- on the construction of the be NASCAR races without
related to the coronavirus WWE an essential business. duction with a national au- company's new headquar- an audience or a redo of
pandemic. Pro sports were added to dience ... only if the loca- ters for at least six months. the Tiger Woods-vs.-Phil
The moves came even a list of businesses permit- tion is closed to the general WWE cut a slew of perform- Mickelson golf match. q