Prepare Nursing Homes for the Next Coronavirus Wave

The most effective way to save lives would be to improve infection control in assisted-living facilities.

By Betsy McCaughey. Ms. McCaughey is chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, a former lieutenant governor of New York, and author of “Next Pandemic,” forthcoming from Encounter Books. Excerpts:

"Nursing-home residents make up less than 1% of the U.S. population, but in many states they account for half of all Covid-19 deaths. In some states it’s higher, such as Minnesota (81%), New Hampshire (77%) and Pennsylvania (71%), according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Shutting down the economy and ordering the public to stay at home didn’t prevent these deaths. These people were already staying home."

"The single most effective way to save lives would be to improve infection control in nursing homes and prepare to rush supplies of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment to these facilities"

"nursing homes were ignored, despite early warnings they would be the deadliest places. Nursing-home residents accounted for roughly half of deaths in Italy and Spain as of early April.

The carnage at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., was another red flag. The first patient tested positive on Feb. 28. More than 40 people died"

"Employees were untrained in infection control and the use of personal protective equipment. Infected patients weren’t given masks, even when they were transferred to a hospital."

"Each year some 380,000 residents die from infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

"It was predictable that nursing homes would become the riskiest place during a pandemic. Yet state and federal officials treated them as an afterthought. The CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services didn’t begin tracking nursing-home deaths until the end of April.

Worse, several states refused to disclose which nursing homes were affected, making it impossible for families to choose a safer location for their loved ones. New York held out until May 5, finally releasing the information in response to a public-records request.

New York made its deadliest mistake on March 25. As hospitals became inundated, the state mandated that nursing homes accept all patients being discharged from a hospital regardless of whether they had Covid-19."

"nationally 51% to 53% of Covid-19 deaths are nursing-home residents"