COVID-19 outbreaks on the rise again in Colorado nursing homes and assisted living facilities

Colorado is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 epidemics, with nursing homes and assisted living facilities again facing growing clusters of infections among residents – increasing the chances that high death rates await this winter .

New data released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment showed 57 nursing homes were experiencing outbreaks of the novel coronavirus, as were 58 assisted living centers, some of which have units for patients. with dementia. A week earlier, 43 establishments of each type reported outbreaks.

Ten of the current outbreaks in nursing homes and assisted living facilities involve 50 or more residents, and seven have recorded 10 or more deaths.

When the new coronavirus first arrived in Colorado, it hit long-term care facilities particularly hard. Nursing home residents accounted for a disproportionate share of deaths, likely because the chances of dying from the virus increase with age. During the summer, outbreaks moved to places frequented by the general public, such as shops and restaurants, and the rate of new deaths declined as infections clustered in older age groups. youth.

Doug Farmer, president and CEO of the Colorado Health Care Association, said long-term care facilities are in a better position than they were in the spring because they have more constant access to equipment. personal protection and testing. Still, the best defense is to prevent the virus from spreading widely outside facilities, by wearing masks and practicing social distancing, he said.

“If we can control the spread in the community at large, we have a much better chance of controlling it in long-term care communities,” he said.

Now that the virus is spreading across all age groups, epidemics are returning to facilities that are home to a medically vulnerable population. The number of outbreaks in long-term facilities closely follows the level of spread in the general community, which has reached levels never seen before in Colorado, said state epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy.

“The risk exists mainly through staff who may be exposed in the community and then unknowingly – because this infection, unfortunately, is often asymptomatic, so we have no signs of staying home – these workers could potentially introduce this virus into an establishment, ”she said.

Colorado reported 4,035 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday. The seven-day average of new cases has increased more slowly in recent days than in recent weeks, although it is not yet clear whether this represents the start of a plateau. Deaths also do not appear to be increasing as rapidly, although the delay in reporting deaths makes it difficult to identify trends.

Statewide, 1,428 people were hospitalized on Wednesday with confirmed cases of COVID-19, breaking a record set the day before. The percentage of intensive care beds in use also reached a new high, with 86% occupancy. At the height of the initial spring wave, around 73% of intensive care beds were in use, although part of the difference could be due to the fact that hospitals have not stopped performing elective surgeries in all areas.

“We are at the highest level of hospitalizations during this pandemic,” said Scott Bookman, COVID-19 incident commander for Colorado. “Our health care system is starting to feel stress.”