The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), released a report recently showing nursing homes in the U.S. have experienced an alarming spike in new COVID cases due to community spread among the general population.
The AHCA/NCAL represents more than 14,000 nursing homes and assisted living communities across the country that provide care to approximately five million people each year. The CMS data shows COVID cases in nursing homes significantly increased last month after having dropped significantly throughout the month of June. The report also showed COVID-related deaths in nursing homes had declined significantly but have started to uptick again in recent weeks.
Using data from Johns Hopkins University, AHCA/NCAL released a state-by-state breakdown showing 33 states with a positive COVID-19 test rate of higher than five percent and data from CMS indicating many nursing homes are still facing significant PPE supply shortages especially for N95 masks and gowns.
