Nursing homes experienced their worst COVID-19 death rate between mid-October and mid-November, with more than 8,400 residents dying from the disease over the four-week period, according to a new analysis of federal data by the AARP.
That’s the highest number of resident deaths over a four-week span since the previous peak during the month of June when there were 8,009 deaths between June 1-28.
The report also found that monthly COVID-19 cases are also reaching new heights. There were more than 61,000 new resident cases and 58,000 new staff cases reported between mid-October and mid-November.
The previous apexes of 38,000 new resident cases and 41,000 new staff cases were reported over a four-week period during the mid-summer, according to the AARP.
The organization called the numbers “extremely upsetting.”
“It’s beyond outrageous at this point,” Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs, said. “We expected that cases would probably go up as the weather got colder, but these numbers are out of this world. It’s extremely upsetting.”
He added that the figures mean the long-term care is on track “to be in a “devastating place in a couple of months.”
“I’m worried about how many people in nursing homes are going to lose their lives over the holiday season. It’s going to be a really awful situation for families, and it just didn’t have to be this way,” Sweeney said.
