New York nursing homes STILL ‘extremely vulnerable’ to COVID-19: report

Coronavirus-ravaged nursing homes in New York City are still “extremely vulnerable” to the deadly disease – more than nine months after the pandemic began, according to a report released Thursday.

Between October 25 and November 29, nursing home residents accounted for a quarter of all COVID-19 deaths statewide, despite making up less than half of 1% of the population , according to the Empire Center for Public Policy.

“They appear to be more vulnerable than ever,” said Bill Hammond, senior health policy researcher at the independent think tank.

During that five-week period, there were 268 coronavirus deaths at facilities, according to federal data reviewed by Hammond. That number represents 26 percent of all deaths from the virus reported by the state’s health department during that period.

Nursing homes in upstate New York have been hit much more than those in the Big Apple, which are responsible for 18 of the deaths, the data shows.

For example, the southern tier states, which includes Binghamton, Corning and Elmira, recorded 84 deaths from COVID-19 in those weeks, or 71% of the region’s number.

The disturbing details come despite the state’s implementation of strict restrictions on nursing homes – such as limited visits and weekly tests for staff – after the spring wave of infections.

Hammond said he believes “nursing homes are better protected than ever before” but after completing his analysis “it doesn’t appear to be.”

“I think it’s extremely difficult to protect nursing home residents from this virus because they are extremely vulnerable,” he told the Post.

“Although they themselves are cut off from the rest of the world, they have frequent intimate contact with staff … and these people are to some extent in the world and are inevitably exposed to the virus.”

As the coronavirus death rate in the state – inside and outside nursing homes – remains lower than in April and May, Hammond said the troubling trend needs to be corrected.

“It is baffling to me that this issue, this trend was not addressed by the governor or his people in the daily briefings,” he said.

“That’s a huge percentage of deaths, especially in the upstate in nursing homes, and we knew they were taking a lot of special care and protection.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has faced criticism for months that political guidelines issued by his health department at the start of the pandemic fueled outbreaks in hard-hit nursing homes.

A March 25 directive later rescinded required nursing homes to agree to recovery for COVID-19 patients in hospitals, a controversial policy that the governor said followed federal guidelines.

The Cuomo administration has publicly reported around 6,500 deaths from COVID-19 in long-term care facilities across the state since March – but declined to say how many have died after being taken to hospitals for treatment. ’emergency.

Lawmakers and the Empire Center have submitted Freedom of Information Act requests and sued the state for refusing to release those figures. This trial is ongoing.

Cuomo’s critics and health care experts have torn apart the governor and his health commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, for issuing the directive, which required nursing homes to allow COVID-positive residents to return from hospitals if they didn’t need intensive care.

They say the mandate has helped fuel outbreaks in long-term care facilities, which care for the elderly and infirm – some of the people most vulnerable to the deadly disease.

And analysis of Associated Press data indicates that the state’s tally of the total number of nursing home deaths may be vastly underestimated. Some 323 nursing home residents died between early June and mid-July, according to the AP’s review of federal data – 65% more than the 195 deaths reported by the state during the same period.

If this rate indicates reporting disparities during the duration of the pandemic, it could be the cause of thousands of additional coronavirus-related deaths in retirement homes.

The state’s DOH released an internal report in July saying the virus had spread through facilities primarily by staff.

But the self-examination, which tried to justify the ministry’s highly criticized policies, was criticized by experts who said it was riddled with holes.

“There are no more excuses. We know these facilities are the most vulnerable to COVID and that Governor Cuomo and his administration still can’t figure out how to protect them. Either he doesn’t care or he is unable to govern, or both. It is time to consider withdrawing his powers, “said assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), a frequent critic of the state’s nursing home policies on Thursday.

But DOH spokesperson Gary Holmes defended his boss’ decisions claiming that the “right-wing political machine” “ignored the science, the data and the facts” – although the figures cited are reported to the federal government by the New York nursing homes.

“What we’ve been saying from the start is happening in all 50 states – when this virus enters a community, it also enters nursing homes, usually through staff or asymptomatic visitors.

He added, “New York continues to do everything possible to protect the residents and staff of our nursing homes, including restricting visits to the red and orange zones, a return to twice-weekly testing in all. comprehensive micro program areas that places residents and nursing home staff among New Yorkers on the front lines to receive COVID-19 immunizations.