Nursing Community COVID-19 Cases Rise Four-Fold in Surge States

An Associated Press analysis of federal data from 20 U.S. states found coronavirus cases are spiking at nursing communities, with new weekly cases among residents climbing nearly four-fold from the end of May to late October. Resident deaths more than doubled from 318 to 699 weekly. Moreover, weekly cases among nursing community staff in surge states more than quadrupled, from 855 the week ending May 31 to 4,050 the week ending Oct. 25. These findings cast doubt on the Trump administration's strategy of insisting that states reopen while maintaining that vulnerable people can be isolated even if the virus resurges around them. "Someone has to care for vulnerable nursing community residents, and those caregivers move in and out of the nursing community daily, providing an easy pathway for the virus to enter," warned the University of Chicago's Tamara Konetzka. The COVID Tracking Project estimated that nursing communities and other long-term care communities are responsible for roughly 1 percent of the U.S. population, but represent 40 percent of COVID-19 fatalities. Konetzka said her research found that nursing community quality has no significant impact on coronavirus cases and deaths once community spread is considered, which means "it's not like the high-quality communities have figured out how to do things better."