Local COVID-19 updates

[edschweppe]

As of 4PM this afternoon, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is reporting 130 more deaths from COVID-19 (for a total of 3,846 to date), 1,952 new cases (for a total of 66,263) and 9,358 more tests performed (for a total of 298,994).

There is one bit of good news: the number of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 has been dropping for the last five days, from a peak of 3,892 on Monday to 3,601 as of today, which is the lowest number since April 14. The bad news: Massachusetts has one of the highest percentages of COVID-19 deaths in the country occurring at long-term care facilities like nursing homes, veterans' homes, etc.

The novel coronavirus's disproportionate impact on long-term care facilities in Massachusetts continued to grow this week, accounting now for nearly 60 percent of all state deaths, one of the highest publicly reported rates in the country.

A half dozen other states — Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Oregon, West Virginia, and Maine, have also reported more than half of all their COVID-19 deaths from patients at long-term care facilities, according to data collected by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Rhode Island appears to have the highest rate in the nation, at about 71 percent, followed by Massachusetts.

Details on infections and deaths within the nation’s nursing homes are spotty — the foundation says only 30 states are publicly reporting data about fatalities in long-term care facilities, angering families and advocates, and making the full impact of the virus’s toll difficult to gauge.

But one thing is for sure: long-term care facilities in Massachusetts have borne the brunt of the deadly disease like few other places, a worrisome trend for the 41,000 people living in nursing and rest homes here.

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A spokesman for the state’s COVID-19 Response Command Center said in a released statement that nursing home patients and staff are now required to be tested. The change came via an April 27 state funding plan that set aside $130 million for long-term care facilities.

The statement said Massachusetts has been a leader in testing at long-term care facilities, giving the state a clearer picture of the virus’s impact on those patients. As of Saturday, the National Guard has administered more than 28,000 tests at 525 congregate care facilities, the state said.

Of six other states with similarly sized nursing home populations, Massachusetts has administered the most tests overall, according to a Globe review.

Nationally, Massachusetts has the 10th highest nursing home population in the country, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. New York and California have the largest nursing home populations with just over 101,000 patients each.

The town of Acton has yet to post an update today. The most recent daily report was Thursday's, with 92 confirmed cases in town, 52 of those being "cases in isolation that are actively being monitored".