Trump To Create Independent Commission To Investigate Outbreaks In Nursing Homes

NPR: Trump Announces Panel To Look At Nursing Home Responses To Coronavirus Outbreak
President Trump Thursday announced the formation of an independent commission to look at the response of nursing homes to the coronavirus. The move comes after nursing home operators have been clamoring for more equipment and testing. In comments at a White House event, Trump acknowledged that nursing homes were "a spot that we have to take care of. I guess you could call it a little bit of a weak spot, because things are happening at the nursing homes that we're not happy about." (Jaffe, 4/30)

NBC News: Industry Executive: White House Plan To Send A Week's Worth Of Masks, Gloves To Nursing Homes Is Not Enough
President Donald Trump said Thursday that nursing homes, which have been ravaged by the coronavirus, had been "a little bit of a weak spot" in the U.S. response to the disease it causes and announced that the government would ship a seven-day supply of gowns and masks to the nation's 15,000 long-term care facilities. But nursing home residents have accounted for a quarter of the nation's 60,000 reported COVID-19 deaths, and for some industry leaders and advocates for residents, a week's supply of personal protective equipment, or PPE, is not an answer. (Strickler, 4/30)

NPR: There Are More Than 4,000 Coronavirus Cases In Maryland's Nursing Homes
Long-term care facilities in Maryland are the sites of thousands of confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to data published Tuesday evening by the state's health department. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan also signed an Executive Order Wednesday, requiring universal testing of all nursing home residents and staff in the state. As of Wednesday afternoon, there are 4,822 cases of COVID-19 in such facilities and group homes of more than 10 people in Maryland. (Barthel, 4/30)

ProPublica/The Texas Tribune: Texas Still Won’t Say Which Nursing Homes Have COVID-19 Cases. Families Are Demanding Answers.
As elderly and vulnerable citizens continue to die from COVID-19 in closed-off long-term care centers around the country, many of their relatives have begged elected leaders to release the locations of these outbreaks. Their pleas have carried weight with governors in Georgia, New York, Oklahoma and Florida, among others, who mandated an accounting of where the virus had spread. Not in Texas. (Kriel, Davila and Walters, 4/30)

Boston Globe: Warren, Markey Demand Data From Assisted-Living Operators On Coronavirus Impact 
Amid growing alarm over the spread of COVID-19 at senior care sites, US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts are demanding information from assisted-living operators about coronavirus infections and deaths at their facilities and the steps they are taking to fight the pandemic. The push for scrutiny of a sector not currently regulated by the federal government is also coming from a key House Democrat, Carolyn Maloney of New York, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, as reports surface of virus outbreaks at assisted-living sites in Massachusetts, New York, and other states. (Weisman and Krantz, 4/30)

KQED: Amid Hundreds Of Coronavirus Deaths In California Nursing Homes, It's Still Not Clear How State Is Monitoring 
California is now monitoring nearly 200 nursing homes where coronavirus has spread among thousands of care workers and patients, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday. It’s still not clear what monitoring means or how exactly it’s helping slow the spread in long-term care facilities. Where assisted living and nursing homes report problems, like with shortages of protective gear or staff, county public health departments have varied responses and levels of resources to fill the gaps. The governor says testing is a priority, but it’s not required where outbreaks are reported, either by state or local order. (Peterson, 4/30)

Houston Chronicle: 63 Texas Lawmakers Urge Gov. Abbott To Do More To Protect Elderly Care Home Residents
A bipartisan group of 63 state representatives in a letter Wednesday made several requests of Gov. Greg Abbott that they say would help protect elderly Texans living in long-term care facilities. “Our state government can and must do more to protect our most vulnerable Texans,” they wrote. “That is why we respectfully request the following critical measures to defend our elderly Texans, Texans with disabilities and the Texans on the frontline serving these communities.” (Goldenstein, 4/30)

Indianapolis Star: Coronavirus Reporting For Indiana Nursing Homes Lags Many Other States
Indiana official announced earlier this week that they would continue to withhold COVID-19 nursing home data from the public, instead relying on the more than 530 facilities to report information directly to residents' families. Many other states, including all four of Indiana's neighbors, have opted to publish facility-level data on nursing home cases and deaths attributed to to COVID-19. But for Hoosiers, including those who may be looking at nursing homes for themselves or a family member after the pandemic, information about individual facilities remains basically hidden by state officials even though they now account for nearly one-third of all of Indiana's COVID-19 deaths. (Evans, 5/1)