ABC News: Indiana nurse allegedly removed COVID-19 patient’s oxygen. “A southern Indiana nurse has been charged with practicing medicine without a license for allegedly removing a nursing home resident’s oxygen mask hours before he died from COVID-19 last year. Connie Sneed, 52, was charged Thursday with the felony, which in Indiana carries a potential penalty of one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.”
New York Times: F.B.I. Investigating Whether Cuomo Aides Gave False Data on Nursing Homes. “A federal investigation into Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic has focused in recent weeks on whether the governor and his senior aides provided false data on resident deaths to the Justice Department, according to four people with knowledge of the investigation.”
New York Times: N.Y. Severely Undercounted Virus Deaths in Nursing Homes, Report Says. “For most of the past year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has tried to brush away a persistent criticism that undermined his national image as the man who led New York through the pandemic: that his policies had allowed thousands of nursing home residents to die of the virus. But Mr. Cuomo was dealt a blow when the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, reported on [January 28] that Mr. Cuomo’s administration had undercounted coronavirus-related deaths of state nursing home residents by the thousands.”
New York Times: Vaccination Campaign at Nursing Homes Faces Obstacles and Confusion. “…even before it begins, the mass-vaccination campaign is facing serious obstacles that are worrying nursing home executives, industry watchdogs, elder-care lawyers and medical experts. They expect nursing homes to be the most challenging front in the mission to vaccinate Americans.”
Washington Post: Nursing home staffers attended a 300-person superspreader wedding. Now six residents have died.. “Last month, more than 300 people packed into a wedding near rural Ritzville, Wash., defying state restrictions. Authorities later traced more than a dozen coronavirus cases and two outbreaks to the ceremony — and warned the fallout would probably get worse. Now, health officials say the wedding also included some guests whose job is caring for among the most vulnerable to coronavirus: nursing-home residents. At least six residents have now died of covid-19 at two nursing homes where staffers tested positive for the virus after attending the wedding, the local department announced in a Thursday news release.”
KCRA: 82 contract COVID-19 at Northern California nursing facility. “A skilled nursing facility in Capitola is reporting more than 80 cases of COVID-19 among its residents and staff. Pacific Coast Manor said Thursday that 48 residents and 34 staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March. It is not clear how many of those cases were reported in recent days.”
North Carolina Health News: COVID-free nursing homes fought hard to keep virus out. “More than 200 North Carolina nursing homes have succeeded in totally excluding COVID-19 infections. What did they do right? This is the first of two stories exploring what skilled nursing facilities can do and have done to prevent COVID infections for the people in their care.”
Associated Press: Not just COVID: Nursing home neglect deaths surge in shadows. “When COVID-19 tore through Donald Wallace’s nursing home, he was one of the lucky few to avoid infection. He died a horrible death anyway. Hale and happy before the pandemic, the 75-year-old retired Alabama truck driver became so malnourished and dehydrated that he dropped to 98 pounds and looked to his son like he’d been in a concentration camp. Septic shock suggested an untreated urinary infection, E. coli in his body from his own feces hinted at poor hygiene, and aspiration pneumonia indicated Wallace, who needed help with meals, had likely choked on his food.”
WGAL: Nursing home’s ‘hug tents’ allow residents to get long-awaited embrace with loved ones. “Restaurants aren’t the only places brainstorming new ways to yield to coronavirus-related restrictions and public health measures. A senior living center in Colorado figured out how to safely allow its residents to get something many around the world have been lacking in 2020 — the warmth of a hug.”
New York Times: ‘A Slow Killer’: Nursing Home Residents Wither in Isolation Forced by the Virus. “After months of near-isolation inside his senior care facility, Charlie no longer recognizes his wife of almost 50 years. In another nursing home, Susan’s toenails grew so long that she could not squeeze into her shoes. Ida lost 37 pounds and stopped speaking. Minnie cried and asked God to just take her. They are among thousands of older people stricken by another epidemic ravaging America’s nursing homes — an outbreak of loneliness, depression and atrophy fueled by the very lockdowns that were imposed to protect them from the coronavirus.”
WBUR: COVID-19 Hit Mass. Nursing Homes Hard — Especially Those Serving People Of Color . “In Massachusetts, nursing homes were hit hard and early by the coronavirus. Thousands of residents in these facilities have died from COVID-19, and the death rate from the virus in nursing homes is 90 times that of the statewide death rate. But nursing homes across the state did not bear this burden equally.”
CNBC: Trump administration announces deal with CVS and Walgreens to administer coronavirus vaccine to seniors in long-term care. “The vaccine will be free of charge and available for residents in all long-term care settings, including skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, residential care homes and adult family homes, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release.”
Washington Post: After a college town’s coronavirus outbreak, deaths at nursing homes mount. “Mayor Tim Kabat was already on edge as thousands of students returned to La Crosse, Wis., to resume classes this fall at the city’s three colleges. When he saw young people packing downtown bars and restaurants in September, crowded closely and often unmasked, the longtime mayor’s worry turned to dread. Now, more than a month later, La Crosse has endured a devastating spike in coronavirus cases — a wildfire of infection that first appeared predominantly in the student-age population, spread throughout the community and ultimately ravaged elderly residents who had previously managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic.”
StarTribune: National Guard called in to help contain COVID outbreaks at two Minnesota nursing homes. “In a troubling sign of COVID-19’s resurgence, the Minnesota National Guard has been called in to provide emergency staffing support at two nursing homes struggling to contain large and deadly outbreaks of the respiratory disease.”
Associated Press: 10 residents dead amid virus outbreak at Kansas nursing home. “The health department in Norton County reported Monday night that all 62 residents and an unspecified number of employees at the Andbe Home in Norton had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The agency also said one Andbe Home resident was hospitalized, while the remaining 51 were being treated at the home.”
