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COVID-19 deaths and cases are rising again in U.S. nursing homes | Ap

COVID-19 infections are soaring again in US nursing homes due to the Omicron wave, and deaths are also rising, prompting new restrictions on family visits and a renewed push to vaccinate and empower more residents and staff.

Nursing homes were the deadly epicenter of the pandemic early on, before the vaccine allowed many of them to reopen to visitors last year. But the wildly contagious variant has dealt them a setback.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nursing homes reported a near-record-breaking COVID-19 case among residents in the week ended Jan. 9, a nearly seven-fold increase from the previous month.

In the same week, a total of 645 deaths related to COVID-19 were recorded among residents, a

47 percent increase over the earlier period. And there are fears the death toll could be much higher before omicron is through.

Despite the rising numbers, the situation is not as dire as it was in December 2020, when the number of care home deaths per week was around 6,200. Experts now attribute high vaccination rates to nursing home residents: around 87 percent are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.

COVID-19 vaccination and booster shots offer strong protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death, but the sick and elderly are particularly vulnerable to the virus.

Care home officials say they are responding to the outbreak by confining visitors to common areas rather than letting them into residents’ rooms and by restoring social distancing.

Some states, like New York, have taken their own measures, e.g. B. Requiring proof of a negative test for visitors and providing everyone with surgical masks.

Nursing homes are also working to increase immunization rates, particularly for booster shots. 63 percent of nursing home residents across the country have received an extra dose.

Booster numbers are far worse for employees. About 83 percent are fully vaccinated, but only 29 percent received an additional dose.

Nursing homes have held vaccination clinics and town meetings to emphasize the importance of vaccinations.

They also got another tool Thursday to increase immunizations when the US Supreme Court upheld a Biden administration immunization mandate for most US healthcare workers

About 57,200 nursing home workers — by far the highest number on record during the pandemic — had a more than 10-fold increase from the previous month in the week ended Jan. 9, according to the CDC.Sharon Wheeler was shocked to learn that her 88-year-old father, who has dementia, was recently diagnosed with COVID-19 at a nursing home in Naperville, Illinois. She said she hopes the fact that he is fully vaccinated and charged will help him pull through.

She said she suspects visitors and residents who came and went over the holidays brought COVID-19 into the home. Wheeler was not allowed to see her father, but staff told her he had mild symptoms.

“I worked so hard to make sure he never gets it [COVID-19] because I was so scared,” she said. “He’s such an older man and I don’t want to lose him in that way.”

Vaccines are just one of many tools that should be used to protect older people against Omicron, said Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. He also recommended visitor testing, mandatory boosters and the use of medical masks such as N95 and high-efficiency air filters.

“We need to build a Fort Knox to protect nursing homes, but we’re not doing that right now and that’s why cases are increasing,” Feigl-Ding said Thursday. “We’re going to have an exponential number of hospitalizations and deaths.”

The virus dealt a devastating blow in late November at Todd Fernald’s New Hampshire nursing home called Webster at Rye, where 100 percent of residents and staff were vaccinated – but not boosted.

“COVID pierced this building in 10 seconds,” Fernald said, recalling how on the day additional shots were supposed to be administered, an outbreak occurred that ultimately killed six residents, infected dozens more and sickened 20 staff.

Since then almost all residents have been boosted and staff are getting their third vaccination.

“I just lost an employee who didn’t want to get vaccinated and quit his job,” Fernald said. “I see more and more people getting boosted and bringing me their booster cards every week.”

Ensuring facilities have tools like testing is also crucial, said Lisa Sanders of LeadingAge, an association of non-profit providers of aging services, including care homes.

“Older adults and the people who care for them should be prioritized for support and care when it becomes available,” Sanders said.

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