According to the data of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at present, American nursing homes and long-term care institutions have received more than 1.3 million elderly and infirm people. Since the outbreak of New Crown Pneumonia, American old-age care institutions have been concerned by local media for many times because of gathering infections and ineffective treatment. Recently, a nationwide survey in The New York Times found that the number of deaths in old-age care institutions in the United States was much higher than the known data.
The number of deaths in old-age care institutions has climbed into the epidemic "hardest hit"
On May 9th, The New York Times released the data of confirmed and dead cases in American old-age care institutions in a report, which was based on official figures released by states, counties and old-age care institutions. The data shows that so far, all the old-age care institutions in the United States haveMore than 143,000 people were infected with COVID-19, and at least 25,600 people died..
△ The New York Times: One-third of the deaths in the United States are elderly people or staff in nursing homes
According to Johns Hopkins University, as of 15:32 EDT on the 9th (3:32 Beijing time on the 10th), the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the United States was 1,300,079. The New York Times pointed out that among the current old-age care institutions,The number of confirmed cases accounts for only 11% of the country, but the death toll accounts for nearly one third.
(△ Distribution map of confirmed cases in long-term care institutions in the United States. According to reports, there are 7,500 old-age care institutions in the United States with confirmed cases. Among them, the light color represents the state that has published the data, and the dark color represents the state that has not yet published the data. )
The increase in the mortality rate of old-age care institutions is more obvious at the state level. In Pennsylvania, Colorado, Massachusetts, etc.A dozen StatesThe number of deaths of the elderly and caregivers exceeds half of the state’s total. In New York State, where the epidemic is the most serious, the old-age care institution has reported.5292 cases of death. And in West Virginia,The proportion of deaths in pension institutions reached 81%.
(Delta chart is compiled by The New York Times according to official data of various states and institutions. The report also pointed out that due to the differences in reporting methods of various channels, this is an incomplete statistic, and the actual number of deaths may be higher. )
In addition to ordinary old-age care institutions, the epidemic has also hit many veterans centers in the United States. Statistics show that there have been many deaths in veterans centers in Florida, Nevada, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington, D.C.. At the Paramo Veterans Home in New Jersey,256 people have been diagnosed and 57 people have died.The Guardian reported earlier that 68 veterans in a veterans center in Massachusetts died of COVID-19 infection. In addition, 81 staff members and 82 residents were diagnosed.
The death toll has increased tenfold! What happened in the past month?
Behind the numbers are lives exposed to diseases.
On March 1st, the health department of Washington State reported the second case of COVID-19’s death in the United States, which was from a nursing home. Since then, related cases have been reported in various States.
On April 12, the Associated Press reported that 2,755 deaths in the United States have come from nursing homes and related nursing institutions.Today, this figure is nine times that of a month ago.
△ According to the data of Johns Hopkins University and local media reports, in the past month, the death toll in COVID-19 increased by 3.6 times, and the death toll in old-age care institutions increased by 9.3 times.
The latest gathering infection in nursing homes occurred in New York State. According to local media reports on May 1st, nearly 100 people died in a nursing home named Isabella. This is also the largest epidemic death in nursing homes in New York State.
In these institutions, the health threats are not only the elderly with weak immune system, but also the staff who provide services for them.
△ The New York Times: The virus invaded the nursing home "to prevent the epidemic from spreading to a critical juncture".
The New York Times’s previous report interviewed ArchCare, which runs five nursing institutions in new york, and pointed out that the staff there can only get one N95 mask every week, so they have to reuse it. In addition, each staff member only has one set of disposable protective clothing during the shift, and there is nothing to change after wearing it. In this case, they also need to "shuttle back and forth" between the diagnosed patients and ordinary patients in COVID-19.
A nurse said helplessly, "how can we only have one set of protective clothing?" We clean and wipe our mouths for the elderly, and we are covered with things. I feel that I am spreading the virus myself. "
No matter officials, experts, the media or the public, it is generally difficult to be optimistic about the status quo of nursing homes. McCaughey, former deputy governor of New York, said, "Nursing homes are places of death. It’s already crowded, overwhelmed and understaffed. One person in a nursing home is infected with the virus, which is equivalent to a massacre. "
Why are old-age care institutions powerless in the face of the epidemic?
Because of the weak immune system and common basic diseases, the elderly have always been a susceptible and high-risk group in COVID-19. But is the epidemic causing such a large-scale death in nursing homes in the United States a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?
The U.S. government "puts the old-age care institutions in the back row" in allocating medical resources.
As the "hardest hit area" of COVID-19 epidemic in the United States, old-age care institutions have been neglected. In a report on a nursing center in Washington State, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the lack of personal protective equipment and staff working with illness led to a large-scale outbreak of the epidemic and quickly spread to other nursing homes in the region.
△ Screenshot of NBC report.
The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) reported that the lack of medical supplies in an institution in Staffordshire, Connecticut, killed three elderly people and infected at least six employees. In Louisiana, 13 people died in an organization, and there was no personal protective equipment … …
△ NBC report screenshot
According to the Associated Press (AP), Mark Parkinson, president of the American Health Care Association, said that American officials were slow to prepare and protect American nursing institutions and assisted living institutions from the beginning. Parkinson pointed out that,In fact, it is impossible to stop the virus from spreading in the old-age care institutions.
△ Associated Press report screenshot
In the face of the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, the government has repeatedly "backward" the old-age care institutions in the allocation of medical resources. According to US media reports, it was not until April 29th that the US Federal Emergency Management Agency prepared to distribute personal protective equipment to nursing homes. A spokesman for the agency said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is preparing to deliver masks, protective clothing and gloves to nursing homes across the country, and this work will start around May 1.
Information opacitydelayepidemicPrevention and control opportunity
In addition to the lack of personal protective equipment and limited testing, the transparency of epidemic information in various States in the United States has also been criticized. Relevant persons believe that the failure to report cases in time has delayed the opportunity to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
According to American media, Kirkland Life Care Center in the suburb of Seattle, Washington has been widely reported as the early "epicenter" of COVID-19.
The first patient developed symptoms on February 19, and was taken to the hospital on February 24. It was not until February 27 that the institution issued the relevant report, saying that it was only suspected that the patient was infected with COVID-19.
△ Screenshot of related reports about the old-age care institutions in Washington State, showing that on February 27th, the old-age care institutions reported that the suspected patients were infected with COVID-19.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that the families of the elderly in the old-age care institutions, health care supervision institutions and bipartisan members have pointed out that,Lack of transparency prevented officials and the public from fully understanding the disaster.
As the "hardest hit area" of the old-age care institutions in New York, Governor Cuomo was questioned about the handling of the epidemic in the old-age care institutions. One of the key issues was that New York began to publicly report the number of deaths in a nursing home several weeks after the outbreak of the epidemic in the old-age care institutions, and so far no confirmed cases have been reported.
By mid-April, when New York began to announce the death toll, there had been several major epidemics in nursing homes in the state, with at least 40 deaths each time. Because of the ignorance of the epidemic situation before, most family members and surrounding community residents were surprised by the outbreak of the epidemic.
△ The Associated Press reported that new york began to publicly report the death toll of a nursing home several weeks after the outbreak of the epidemic in the old-age care institutions.
Betsy McCaughey, a Republican and former deputy governor of New York, said, "They should announce to the public that there is an epidemic in the nursing home.And remind the public that they need to know where the epidemic is. howeverThey took the opposite strategy: they hid the epidemic. "
△ Former New York State Deputy Governor Betsy McCarthy said that New York State concealed the epidemic.
Poverty among the elderly and high medical expenses have always beenbeShortcomings of epidemic prevention and control
A report released by the Federal Senate in 2019 shows that there are nearly 400 nursing homes in the United States.Serious and persistent health care, safety and sanitation problems.However, the government has not disclosed the names of these nursing homes for many years, which makes these problems persist and difficult to improve.
In addition, the poverty of the elderly has always been a serious social problem facing the United States, which has increased the practical pressure for the prevention and control of the epidemic in the United States, and also exposed its shortcomings in epidemic prevention and control. The Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit organization, pointed out that long-term care expenditure is the bulk of the medical expenses of the elderly in the United States, and this part of the expenses is not covered by federal medical insurance. A study by the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis of New College University shows that by the age of 65, about 40% of the American middle class will be close to or fall into poverty.
Us media: the epidemic situation of old-age care institutions spreads or affects Trump election
The New York Times pointed out that for many years, the elderly have been the largest voting group of the Republican Party and Trump, and the advantage among the elderly voters is very important to them. According to the national export poll data, in 2016, he won the support of voters over 65 with a 7 percentage point advantage.
△ The New York Times report shows that elderly voters are the advantage of Trump’s political success
According to a recent survey by polling agency Morning Consult, the support rate of the elderly for Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 epidemic is very low. The New York Times reported that the spread of the epidemic in old-age care institutions may cause Trump to lose the support of the elderly. In recent polls, Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden Jr leads Trump by 10 percentage points among voters aged 65 and over.
△ The New York Times reports: Trump’s support rate among voters over 65 has declined.
May is the "month of the elderly" in the United States. According to the usual practice, the President of the United States will make an announcement for this every year. Trump’s "2020 American Elderly Month Announcement" was published on the official website of the White House on April 30. Trump said in the "Announcement" that we should do our best to respect and take care of the elderly. But also in May, the old-age care institutions were exposed to the rising death toll and the lack of basic medical resources, and the epidemic spread among the elderly who lacked resistance.
