Despite seeing record-breaking COVID-19 case counts during the omicron spike, skilled nursing facilities were able to weather the storm with minimal deaths among residents, according to new analysis from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.
At the height of the surge in mid-January, weekly COVID-19 cases among SNF workers peaked at 68,000 and hit a record-breaking 48,000 among residents, which was 45% higher than its first peak of 33,000 new cases recorded in December 2020.
However, weekly fatalities peaked at 1,500 deaths in late January — 75% less than the peak of about 6,000 deaths reported in late December 2020.
Occupancy during all of this “held its ground” despite high case counts and severe staffing challenges created by ill workers, NIC data analyst Omar Zahraoui wrote.
Data shows that during the omicron surge SNF occupancy fell from 72.4% to 71.7% between late December 2021 and January 2022 before inching back up to 71.9% in early February.
During the delta spike, occupancy fell from 71.9% to 71.6% from early August to September 2021. That was much different than the fall 2020 spike, when SNF occupancy dropped from 71% in October 2020 to 67.3% by January 2021.
“SNF occupancy remained relatively stable compared with the sharp downturn during the fall 2020 spike prior to the vaccine rollout,” Zahraoui wrote. “This is mainly due to the fast retreat of omicron, the reduced level of severe illness and fatalities, and pandemic preparedness among operators acquired from prior waves.”
