Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Nursing Home Virus Outbreaks In Texas Shoot Up By 60% In Just Weeks
Houston Chronicle: Texas Nursing Home COVID-19 Cases Jump 60 Percent Since July 1
The number of Texas nursing home residents testing positive for COVID-19 has increased by more than 60 percent since the start of July, according to state data, raising concerns that protective measures still lag in facilities as the new coronavirus infects people across the state at a steep rate. While the sheer rise in nursing home infections was alarming, it nonetheless represented a smaller portion of the state’s overall cases as greater numbers of young people have been infected. The number of Texans testing positive since the start of July increased by 77 percent. But experts were bracing for what may be a worse spike in nursing home cases to come. (Rubio and Foxhall, 7/16)
AP: Days Grow Long At Nursing Homes As Virus Lockdowns Drag On
In the activity room, where birthdays were celebrated and Sunday services were held, the aquarium and its brightly colored tropical fish are the only signs of life. Off quiet hallways, Southern Pines residents pass the time with word-search books or a nap. Meals once were a social time enjoyed at tables of neighbors; now most are delivered bedside. Visitors are resigned to muffled conversations through windowpanes, and the only tickets out may be a trip to dialysis or an ambulance ride to the hospital — or something worse. (Sedensky, 7/17)
The Washington Post: What Went Wrong At The Virginia Nursing Home With The Most Coronavirus Cases
The line of nursing home employees waiting to report for duty formed around 6:45 a.m. one day in early May, stretching from the reception desk to the sidewalk. But there was no one to take their temperatures, as required by federal regulations to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. “I can’t do this,” said one exasperated employee at Annandale Healthcare Center, leaving the line and heading into the facility. The Annandale facility was one of at least 27 Virginia nursing homes cited recently by inspectors, who paused inspections nationwide at the start of the pandemic but now must examine infection-control practices at all facilities by July 31 in order for states to receive funding for nursing homes through the Cares Act. (Chason, 7/16)
The CT Mirror: Nursing Homes Want More Emergency Beds, State Funding, To Continue Battling COVID-19
The state’s largest nursing home association is calling for Connecticut to double its emergency bed network for elderly COVID-19 patients in anticipation of a second coronavirus wave this fall. (Phaneuf, 7/17)
WBUR: 29% Of Mass. Nursing Homes Refused Patients Who’ve Used Opioids, Study Finds
Twenty-nine percent of nursing facilities in Massachusetts refused to take patients in 2018 who had a history of drug use and needed post-hospital care. The findings are in a study out of Boston Medical Center’s Grayken Center for Addiction. Researchers said they were surprised to see “do not take people who use drugs” or “do not accept methadone patients” in comments explaining why skilled nursing and rehab centers rejected a referral. (Bebinger, 7/16)
Boston Globe: Volunteer Program Aims To Ease Loneliness For Seniors Isolated By Pandemic
According to the National Institute on Aging, research has linked loneliness to higher physical and mental health risks including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, a weakened immune system, depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and even death. (Cantrell, 7/16)
