Nursing homes account for more than 40 percent of U.S. coronavirus deaths, analysis shows
Residents and staffers at nursing homes and long-term care facilities have accounted for more than 250,000 coronavirus infections and 50,000 deaths in the United States since the pandemic began, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows.
Overall, Johns Hopkins University has tallied more than 116,000 COVID-19 deaths in the country, and more than 40 percent of the virus' death toll is linked to nursing homes. That's probably an underestimate, the Journal notes, since there's a lack of consistency in state reporting when it comes to nursing home-specific data. Arizona, for example, only reports the number of facilities with infections, leaving out the number of cases and deaths, and New York doesn't include nursing home residents who died in a hospital to avoid double counting.
It's also not entirely clear what many facilities are doing to curb the spread of the virus; nearly half of the country's nursing homes have gone without an official inspection of their virus-stemming procedures, Politico reports. The lack of oversight has left some patient advocates skeptical because it means "you're essentially taking the providers' word that they're doing a good job," said Richard Mollot, the executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition. Read more at The Wall Street Journal and Politico.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
'Making a police state out of the liberal university'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
8 looming climate tipping points that imperil our planet
The Explainer New reports detail the thresholds we may be close to crossing
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Try 6 free issues of The Week Junior
Spark your child's curiosity with The Week Junior - the award-winning current affairs magazine for 8-14s.
By The Week Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published