Woonsocket Radio News Room

 

 

New AARP Analysis: COVID-19 Deaths and Cases in Rhode Island

Nursing Homes Increased from August to September 2021 in

 

Nationwide, COVID-19 Deaths in Nursing Homes Doubled

 

PROVIDENCE -- COVID-19 continued to take a deadly toll on nursing home residents and staff in Rhode in the four weeks ending September 19, according to the latest data from AARP’s Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard. 

 

 

Resident deaths from COVID-19 increased from a rate of .02 deaths per 100 residents in mid-August to .03 in mid-September.  Nationally, resident deaths from coronavirus doubled since the last dashboard release, with more than 2,000 lives lost in nursing homes during the same time period.  New infections among Rhode Island residents and staff also increased. 

Resident cases went from .34 to 1.14 per 100 residents, and new staff cases increased from .88 to 1.59 per 100. Cases and deaths would be even higher if not for the availability of vaccines, underscoring the importance of continuing access to COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots for eligible residents and staff.

 

Vaccination rates among nursing home residents and staff also have begun to rise slightly, with 95.2% of residents and 82.1% of staff fully vaccinated as of September 19 (up from 91.9% and 76.4% in mid August.)  Nationally, more than half of health care staff in nursing homes are now vaccinated in every state. AARP has called on nursing homes and long-term care facilities to require that staff and residents be vaccinated against coronavirus, and the Biden Administration has announced plans to require vaccination for staff in nursing homes and most health care settings that receive Medicare or Medicaid payments. 

 

The new Dashboard also shows that chronic staffing shortages and PPE supplies remain nearly the same in Rhode Island nursing homes. In the four weeks ending September 19, 27% reported a shortage of nurses or aides, down from 28%, and 4.1% reported an urgent shortage of PPE, down from 9.3%. Nationally, staffing shortages also rose by 3 percentage points for the second month, with 29% of nursing facilities now reporting a shortage of nurses or aides – on par with the highest level seen during last winter’s COVID wave.

 

“It’s now been one year since AARP began analyzing and reporting how COVID has infiltrated nursing homes across the United States,” said AARP Rhode Island State Director Catherine Taylor. “The increase in deaths among nursing home residents is a grim reminder that this pandemic is far from over. All staff and residents of long-term care facilities must be vaccinated against coronavirus to prevent more heartbreaking losses as we head into winter.”

 

Nationally, AARP has supported several provisions in the reconciliation bill currently before Congress that would help address long-standing issues in skilled nursing facilities and help ensure that residents are receiving quality care. One provision AARP supports would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study and submit a report to Congress on the appropriateness of establishing minimum staff to resident ratios for nursing staff in skilled nursing facilities and provide a process for implementation of such requirements.

 

The AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard analyzes federally reported data in four-week periods going back to June 1, 2020. Using this data, the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the dashboard to provide snapshots of the virus’ infiltration into nursing homes and impact on nursing home residents and staff, with the goal of identifying specific areas of concern at the national and state levels in a timely manner.

 

The full Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard is available at www.aarp.org/nursinghomedashboard, and an AARP story about this month’s data is available here. For more information on how coronavirus is impacting nursing homes and AARP’s advocacy on this issue, visit www.aarp.org/nursinghomes. Medicare.gov’s Care Compare website now offers information about vaccination rates within nursing homes and how they compare to state and national averages.

 

About AARP

AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org, www.aarp.org/espanol or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspanol and @AARPadvocates, @AliadosAdelante on social media.

 

 
The government shutdown is in its third week with no votes set for today in the Senate. Senate Republicans are going to the White House today to have lunch with President Trump, who is expected to thank them for keeping a unified front. Democrats are holding firm on a demand to extend healthcare subsidies for millions of Americans covered through the Affordable Care Act.        Widespread interet outages on Amazon Web Services networks have been resolved. The outages caused issues with multiple popular websites much of Monday. In an update issued last night, the company confirmed that all AWS services had returned to normal.        An atmospheric river is beginning in the Pacific Northwest with the potential to impact the region with heavy rain and snow. An active pattern will kick into high gear this week allowing for up to a foot of rain in coastal areas as well as several feet of snow at higher elevations. A level one out of four flash flood threat has been issued by NOAA's Weather Prediction Center for the Northern California coast, coastal Oregon and parts of western Washington for Friday and Saturday which are expected to be the heaviest days of rainfall.        A man pardoned by President Trump for his involvement with the January 6th riots has been arrested for threatening to assassinate House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. According to a criminal complaint, 34-year-old Christopher Moynihan sent text messages to an unknown associate that threatened to kill Jeffries while he was speaking at an event in New York City on Monday. New York State Polcie say Moynihan is scheduled to make a court appearance on Thursday.        An American Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles returned to its origin after a technical problem in the plane's communication system may have left the pilot thinking there was security problems. On Monday, a flight left Omaha, Nebraska but turned back after only 20 minutes in the air and landed safely. The FAA said the problem was in the plane's phone system. Before the problem was diagnosed, the pilot became alarmed that the flight attendants were not picking up the phone. The pilot declared an emergency and turned the plane around when there was knocking on the cockpit door.        The NBA season tips off with a doubleheader tonight. The Oklahoma City Thunder will raise their championship banner as they host the Houston Rockets at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. In the night's second game, the Golden State Warriors will visit the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. Eastern.       

Old News Archives