Florida led the nation in nursing residence resident and workers deaths within the 4 weeks ending Aug. 22, the American Affiliation of Retired Folks (AARP) reported Wednesday in a “four-week snapshot” evaluation.
In line with the Florida Truth Sheet webpage accessible through AARP’s Nursing Residence COVID-19 Dashboard , 237 residents and 13 workers in state nursing houses died from the illness throughout the span, accounting for 21% of all nursing residence resident deaths and 17% of all workers deaths because of the virus nationwide.
In the meantime, Florida’s 73.6% vaccination charge of 160,000 residents in 700-plus nursing houses is third-worst amongst all states besides Nevada and Arizona, and its 48.5% vaccination charge amongst nursing residence workers – up 3% from July – remains to be the nation’s lowest share aside from Louisiana’s 47.9% charge.
“It’s a scary, tragic time in our state. The brand new information launched in as we speak’s dashboard is a heartbreaking reminder that the pandemic isn’t over,” AARP Florida Director Jeff Johnson stated in a Wednesday assertion. “As vaccination charges have stalled, COVID instances have risen, and Florida nursing residence deaths have soared to the best within the nation.”
Florida’s whole variety of COVID-19 deaths topped 50,000 Thursday with the seven-day common of recent deaths the second-highest tempo because the pandemic emerged in March 2020.
In line with information reported by Florida to the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management & Prevention (CDC), not less than 3.473 million confirmed instances and 50,811 deaths attributed to the illness have been recorded within the state the final 17 months.
AARP’s evaluation states that 4,986 Florida nursing residence residents have died from COVID-19 since March 2020 – 12% of the state’s whole fatalities – and 109 nursing residence staff have been killed by the virus since June 1, 2020.
“These sadly predictable information tendencies are additionally preventable,” Johnson stated. “Our most susceptible residents need to be shielded from this devastating illness. The easiest way to guard your self and your family members is to get vaccinated.”
The AARP Public Coverage Institute and the Scripps Gerontology Heart at Miami College in Ohio analyzed U.S. Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Companies (CMS) information to compile the evaluation. Florida stopped reporting this information publicly in Might.
Florida throughout the four-week span had a COVID-19 demise charge for nursing-home residents of 0.36 per 100 residents, tied with Alaska nation’s highest.
Different findings:
- Solely 7% of Florida’s nursing houses meet the trade customary to vaccinate not less than 75% of workers.
- The % of Florida nursing houses reporting new workers instances of COVID-19 greater than doubled since July’s report, growing from 40.3% to 94%, the nation’s highest and practically double the nationwide common of 51%.
- The % of recent resident instances quadrupled throughout the identical time interval, from 12.6 to 61%, thrice the nationwide common of 20%.
- Roughly 22% of Florida’s nursing houses endure from staffing shortages, up from 18% in July.
The Biden administration introduced in August that nursing houses that obtain Medicaid and Medicare funding should totally vaccinated staffs. The White Home final week expanded the mandate to different kinds of healthcare services, together with hospitals.
The Florida Well being Care Affiliation (FHCA), which represents about 80% of the state’s nursing houses, expressed fears the mandate would result in unvaccinated staff on already-thin staffs leaving their jobs, however praised the extension.
“A broadened vaccination coverage will assist shield our residents who usually work together with different healthcare professionals for his or her care wants,” FHCA CEO Emmett Learn stated in a press release. “We all know the vaccine is the most secure technique to shield our residents, and we assist efforts that can assist get extra folks vaccinated.”
