7:18 p.m. ET, June 29, 2020
Nearly half of Covid-19 deaths recorded in long-term care facilities, according to new numbers
From CNN’s Shelby Lin Erdman
In this April 17 file photo, first responders load a patient into an ambulance from a nursing home where multiple people have contracted Covid-19 in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Scott Eisen/Getty Images
Long-term care facilities and similar institutions account for just 14% of cases of coronavirus, but 45% of deaths, according to the latest count from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
KFF’s survey of institutions finds more than 52,000 deaths have occurred in nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, adult care centers, intermediate care facilities, or other long-term care facilities in 40 states, plus Washington, DC.
More than 10,000 facilities in 43 states plus Washington, DC, have confirmed cases of Covid-19.
The KFF survey gleans different information from different states, but finds nearly 254,000 cases of coronavirus in 42 states plus Washington, DC, linked to nursing homes or other long-term care facilities. That’s 14% of the total cases in those states.
The definition of a long-term care facility differs by state, but the “data reflect a combination of nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, adult care centers, intermediate care facilities, and/or other long-term care facilities.”
There is limitation in the data. “Given the considerable variation in how states are reporting data, data cannot be compared between states,” KFF said on its website.
Four states — Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and South Dakota — are not reporting on positive cases or deaths in long-term care facilities.