Coronavirus cases in long-term care facilities are on the rise again, a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation has revealed.
Nationwide, long-term care COVID-19 per-week data showed that there are 0.8 deaths and 6 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents through mid-August, according to the report. Those figures are a slight increase after figures showed there were just 0.6 weekly long-term deaths per 100,000 residents in July. The numbers peaked in April at 3.2 deaths before decreases were seen in May (2.3 deaths) and June (0.8 deaths).
Increases are also being seen in cases, too. Average new cases per week per 100,000 residents was 6 for the month of August. That’s a slight increase after being at 5.2 cases in May and 4.1 cases in June. Those figures also peaked in April at 16.6 cases before decreasing to 10 cases in May.
Overall, the analysis reported that cumulative cases have increased over time from 10,000 deaths and 50,000 cases in mid-April to more than 70,000 deaths and nearly 400,000 cases as of mid-August.
Researchers called for continued close analysis of the new long-term care deaths and cases in the coming months to “understand if we are at the beginning of a continued increase in new LTC cases and deaths that will outpace the rate of new cases and deaths identified in April and May.”
The KFF analysis used data from states that have reported long-term care cases (35 states) and deaths (36 states) since early April 2020.
The findings support a mid-August report from the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living. That analysis showed an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in mid-July after declines in May and June.
Read more about a KFF analysis of COVID-19 in assisted living communities in our sister publication, McKnight’s Senior Living, here.
