Under mounting public pressure to increase transparency, more states are now releasing information about the scourge of the coronavirus on nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The data paints a grim picture: more than 16,000 residents and staff have died, roughly a quarter of the nation’s overall deaths.
In Maryland, which released a list of facilities with positive cases for the first time this week, 97 residents are infected and 34 have died at the facility with the highest number of fatalities, Sagepoint Nursing and Rehabilitation. In New Jersey, where the virus has reached 86% of the state’s 575 long-term care facilities, outbreaks at two veterans’ homes have left 97 dead. In multiple states, including Kentucky, Colorado and Pennsylvania, more than half of the state’s fatalities are from nursing homes.
Two months after the first death from the virus in a U.S. nursing home, advocates and industry leaders say long-term care facilities still face a dire shortage of personal protective equipment and access to testing.
“More needs to be done. The number of deaths is appalling,” said Rhonda Richards, senior legislative representative at AARP. “We can’t overstate the gravity of this situation.”
