Learn more about Holly Harmon, Senior Vice President, Quality, Regulatory and Clinical Services, American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, Washington, DC.
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For the first time in more than two months, the number of active outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities has decreased instead of rising or remaining unchanged.
County health officials announced Wednesday that there are 60 active outbreaks in the region’s nursing homes, down from the 64 that were reported last week. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 154 total outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities, which includes one newly announced this week.
Prior to this week, the last time that active outbreaks in nursing homes decreased was in mid-November, ahead of the surges caused by Thanksgiving and the winter holidays.
U.S. coronavirus cases are falling, leading to cautious optimism the nation can make it out of its "bleak winter" while sparking debate from coast to coast over how much to let up on business restrictions, given still-high rates of transmission.
Nursing homes saw drop in COVID-19 cases after first dose of vaccine: Study Print this article
The prioritization of nursing homes for coronavirus vaccines may be yielding results, even before most staff and residents receive a second dose.
New research from the Center for Health Policy Evaluation in Long-Term Care, an industry-backed group, compared 797 nursing homes that conducted their first vaccination clinics from Dec. 18 to Dec. 27 to 1,709 facilities that did not.
Three weeks after the clinics were held, vaccinated nursing homes saw a 48% decline in new COVID-19 cases among residents. Those that had not had clinics saw a decline of only 21%. Among staff, new cases fell 33% in the facilities that had clinics, but they fell only 18% in those that had not.