COVID Outbreak in Nursing Homes Worst Since April
Patrick Connole
12/1/2020
The American Health Care Association/National Center for
Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) released an updated report on Dec. 1 showing
nursing homes in the United States have now experienced the worst outbreak of
weekly new cases since last spring due to the community spread among the
general population, surpassing previous peaks since the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services (CMS) started tracking cases in nursing homes.
AHCA/NCAL said recent data released by Johns Hopkins University and the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) show that with the recent spike in
new COVID cases in the general U.S. population, weekly nursing home cases are
also on the rise.
According to Johns Hopkins University, weekly new COVID cases in
the general U.S. population rose by 330 percent to 1,043,040 new cases the week
of Nov. 15. A correlating uptick in new cases in nursing homes occurred when
cases in the surrounding community started rising in mid-September.
As experts have noted, COVID-19
cases in a surrounding community is a top factor in outbreaks in nursing homes.
University of Chicago's Tamara Konetzka, a nationally recognized expert on long
term care, recently said, “Trying to protect
nursing home residents without controlling community spread is a losing
battle.”
“Our worst fears have come true as COVID runs rampant among the general
population, and long term care facilities are powerless to fully prevent it
from entering due to its asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic spread,” said AHCA/NCAL
President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Parkinson.
“Our health care heroes are doing everything they can to prevent
it from spreading further, but this level of COVID nationwide puts serious
strain on our workforce, supplies, and testing capacity. Given the fact that
our elderly population is the most vulnerable and the rising level of COVID
across the U.S. shows no signs of stopping, it is paramount that the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] provide the highest priority for the
vaccine distribution to long term care residents and staff.”
During the week of Nov. 15, nearly half (49 percent) of new COVID cases in
nursing homes were from Midwest states, with major spikes in community spread
in the upper parts of the region. As a result, the Midwest region saw more than
a 400 percent increase in weekly COVID cases in nursing homes since
mid-September.
After seven weeks of declining cases in nursing homes through
mid-September, nursing home cases began to increase as nearly all 50 states
started to see significant rising levels of COVID cases. New weekly cases in
nursing homes grew by more than 177 percent nationwide between mid-September
and the week of Nov. 15.
The report also showed COVID-related deaths in nursing homes are
starting to rise, crossing more than 2,000 residents lost the week of Nov.
15—the first time since early June. Nursing home residents are typically older
adults with multiple chronic conditions, making them highly vulnerable to
COVID-19. Residents of long term care facilities account for only 7 percent of
the nation’s cases, yet 40 percent of its deaths.
“With millions of Americans failing to heed advice from public
health experts and traveling during Thanksgiving, we are extremely concerned
that this situation will only get much worse,” Parkinson said.
“At this point, long term care facilities desperately need
public health officials at every level to take emergency steps to get control
of the community spread and ensure our facilities have the resources they need,
as well as for CDC to make our residents and caregivers the top priority in
distributing the vaccine in order to save thousands of lives.”
With record new COVID cases across the country, Parkinson said Congress must
also prioritize frontline health care workers and long term care residents
during the lame-duck session. Last week, AHCA/NCAL released a list of actions that Congress should
urgently take to help nursing homes and assisted living communities respond to
the uptick in new cases.
“Congress must fulfill its duty,” Parkinson said. “Without adequate funding and
resources, the U.S. is repeating the same mistakes made during the initial
outbreak last spring and the major spike over the summer. We need Congress to
prioritize our vulnerable seniors and their caregivers in long term care
facilities, by passing another COVID relief package during the lame duck session
on Congress.”
For more information, please visit www.ahcancal.org/coronavirus.