A new analysis by City and State asks whether New York’s nursing home facilities are prepared for another wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Noting that while long-term care facilities have so far accounted for about 8% of Covid-19 cases, they have comprised about 40% of US fatalities from the disease. In New York especially, there have been 27,307 total Covid-19 deaths, of which 6,967 confirmed or presumed Covid-19 fatalities took place in nursing home facilities, a number that excludes residents who died outside of the facility. While nursing homes have improved their policies and procedures when it comes to Covid-19 since the virus initially struck, City and State argues, “there are still vulnerabilities that could leave nursing-home residents and staff at risk again.”
On the positive side, nursing homes are more likely to have more consistent access to tests and personal protective equipment, the analysis suggests. Nursing homes have already been conducting regular testing of all employees, and are required to have a 60-day supply of PPE. Additionally, a state rule has been reversed that in the spring led to nursing homes accepting Covid-19 patients from hospitals, spreading the virus throughout facilities.