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.”
nursing homes
StarTribune: National Guard called in to help contain COVID outbreaks at two Minnesota nursing homes
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
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.”
Riverfront Times: Veterans’ Home Recently Visited by Governor Parson Has Outbreak of COVID-19
Riverfront Times: Veterans’ Home Recently Visited by Governor Parson Has Outbreak of COVID-19. “A veterans home visited two weeks ago by Missouri Governor Mike Parson is dealing with a major COVID-19 outbreak, according to a news report. The Missouri Veterans Home in Mount Vernon has had 31 of its 150 residents test positive for the virus, ABC affiliate KODE-TV reported. Parson visited the home on September 15, meeting with staff. The next day, he mentioned the visit during a news briefing.” Parson and his wife have both recently tested positive for coronavirus. Spokespeople have denied a connection between his status and this visit.
CNN: Superintendent, ex-medical director at veterans home face criminal charges after deadly Covid-19 outbreak
CNN: Superintendent, ex-medical director at veterans home face criminal charges after deadly Covid-19 outbreak. “The superintendent and former medical director of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home face criminal charges in connection with a Covid-19 outbreak at the veteran’s home earlier this year, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said Friday.”
Washington Post: Trump administration’s new rapid coronavirus tests plagued by confusion and a lack of planning
The Washington Post: Trump administration’s new rapid coronavirus tests plagued by confusion and a lack of planning. “President Trump heralded new rapid coronavirus tests on Monday as game changers — fast, cheap and easy to use. But his administration’s deployment of the new tests to nursing homes has been plagued by poor communication, false results and a frustrating lack of planning, state leaders say. Health officials in several states say they have been allowed no say in where the new tests are being sent and sometimes don’t know which nursing homes will receive them until the night before a shipment arrives. That has left some facilities ill-trained in how to use the tests and what to do with results. And it may be contributing to false-positive test results — when people are identified as being infected but aren’t.”
Channel 4: Care home provider under ‘pressure’ to accept hospital patients with Covid
Channel 4: Care home provider under ‘pressure’ to accept hospital patients with Covid. “When the full extent of deaths from coronavirus in care homes was revealed at the height of the pandemic, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed there had been a ‘protective ring’ placed around them. Tonight, amid worrying signs that coronavirus cases are spreading to care homes, this programme can reveal that hospitals are again getting ready to rapidly discharge people with the virus into them.”
Gothamist: New Yorkers Desperate To See Loved Ones In Nursing Homes Say Visitation Rules Do More Harm Than Good
Gothamist: New Yorkers Desperate To See Loved Ones In Nursing Homes Say Visitation Rules Do More Harm Than Good. “Sandra Monahan has not seen her 93-year-old mother in person since the beginning of March. While other New Yorkers have been reuniting with family in the months after the end of the statewide COVID-19 lockdown, Monahan has not been so lucky. Her mother, who she visited every day before the pandemic, is isolated in a nursing home in a Rochester suburb. Once upbeat and highly alert, she is now losing weight and experiencing depression.”
Empire Center: Empire Center Sues Cuomo Administration for Withholding Nursing Home COVID Data
Empire Center: Empire Center Sues Cuomo Administration for Withholding Nursing Home COVID Data. “The Empire Center today filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Health (DOH) after DOH refused to release records showing the full count of coronavirus deaths among nursing home residents, including those that occurred after patients were transferred to hospitals.”
KHN: Hospitals, Nursing Homes Fail to Separate COVID Patients, Putting Others at Risk
KHN: Hospitals, Nursing Homes Fail to Separate COVID Patients, Putting Others at Risk. “As recently as July, a National Nurses United survey of more than 21,000 nurses found that 32% work in a facility that does not have a dedicated COVID unit. At that time, the coronavirus had reached all but 17 U.S. counties, data collected by Johns Hopkins University shows.”
The Scotsman: Care home linked with 13 Covid-19 deaths rated ‘unsatisfactory’ for infection control by Care Inspectorate
The Scotsman: Care home linked with 13 Covid-19 deaths rated ‘unsatisfactory’ for infection control by Care Inspectorate. “A care home linked with 13 deaths caused by Covid-19 in April has been told it must improve urgently by the Care Inspectorate after being rated ‘unsatisfactory’ for infection control practices. Guthrie House in Liberton, Edinburgh, is run by Four Seasons Health Care and was linked to the deaths of 13 residents due to Covid-19 in April.”
Washington Post: Pandemic isolation has killed thousands of Alzheimer’s patients while families watch from afar
Washington Post: Pandemic isolation has killed thousands of Alzheimer’s patients while families watch from afar. “Beyond the staggering U.S. deaths caused directly by the novel coronavirus, more than 134,200 people have died from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia since March. That is 13,200 more U.S. deaths caused by dementia than expected, compared with previous years, according to an analysis of federal data by The Washington Post.”
Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio’s COVID nursing home deaths clustered in 25% of facilities
Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio’s COVID nursing home deaths clustered in 25% of facilities. “At least 250 nursing homes in Ohio have had residents die due to COVID-19 or its combination with other health problems. The deaths were concentrated in a quarter of those facilities, accounting for 60% of all coronavirus fatalities in the state’s nursing homes, a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis of federal data shows. Nursing homes have held the majority of the state’s coronavirus deaths, Ohio records show.”
ProPublica: Hundreds of Thousands of Nursing Home Residents May Not Be Able to Vote in November Because of the Pandemic
ProPublica: Hundreds of Thousands of Nursing Home Residents May Not Be Able to Vote in November Because of the Pandemic. “At least 68,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic outbreak began, some 41% of all coronavirus deaths in the U.S., according to a New York Times analysis. This ongoing crisis at care facilities across the country has had a troubling hidden effect: the looming mass disenfranchisement of America’s elderly and disabled.”
ProPublica: CareOne Nursing Homes Said They Could Safely Take More COVID-19 Patients. But Death Rates Soared.
ProPublica: CareOne Nursing Homes Said They Could Safely Take More COVID-19 Patients. But Death Rates Soared.. “Of the 363 nursing homes in New Jersey, two of the three CareOne facilities that received transfers from Hanover — facilities in Morristown and Parsippany — have had among the highest death rates. At the Morristown facility, where 45 residents died, there has been one death for every four beds in the facility. At the Parsippany home, there were 36 deaths, nearly one for every three beds. Infections at CareOne’s Morristown facility went on to raise alarms with the local Health Department, and the Parsippany home was cited for infection-control issues.”