5 May 2020: Nursing Homes Go Without PPE as COVID Death Toll Share Rises

Another 1,700 Virus Deaths Reported in NY Nursing Homes

According to this article, 4,813 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19 in New York overall since 1 March 2020, or about a quarter of the 19,415 deaths in the state at this point.

Coronavirus Toll: ‘Absolutely Horrifying’ Surge Of 98 Dead At NYC Nursing Home

This article puts paid to Governor Cuomo's claim (see entry for 26 April 2020) that state officials only put coronavirus-infected patients into nursing homes filled with high-mortality risk elderly patients if they had sufficient resources to care for them and could protect patients from exposure to the coronavirus. Here's an excerpt:

“Isabella, like all other nursing homes in New York City, initially had limited access to widespread and consistent in-house testing to quickly diagnose our residents and staff,” Audrey Waters, a spokeswoman for the nursing home, wrote in an email. “This hampered our ability to identify those who were infected and asymptomatic, despite our efforts to swiftly separate anyone who presented symptoms.”

Isabella also encountered staffing shortages, prompting it to hire from outside agencies and early challenges securing personal protective equipment for employees. Waters said the home finally is “getting more access to testing” now.

Apparently, nursing homes needed more than a week's supply of masks and gloves that state officials would seem to have believed was all that was necessary to care for the COVID-19 patients the state mandated they admit into their facilities.