22 June 2020: 25% of U.S. COVID Deaths in Nursing Homes, Governors Cuomo (NY) and Murphy (NJ) Refuse to Come Clean

In U.S., 1 in 4 COVID-19 Deaths Are Residents of Nursing Homes

Grim statistics from the Associated Press' analysis of federally regulated nursing homes, which we should point out does not include assisted living facilities that are regulated by state governments (highlighted emphasis ours):

Nursing home residents account for nearly 1 in 10 of all the coronavirus cases in the United States and more than a quarter of the deaths, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data released Thursday.

As federal data collection becomes more robust, a clearer picture is emerging of the ravages of COVID-19 in nursing homes. About 1.4 million older and medically frail people live in such facilities, a tiny share of the American population that has borne a crushing burden from the pandemic. Most residents have been in lockdown since early March, isolated from families and friends, even in death.

Nationwide, nursing homes reported nearly 179,000 suspected or confirmed cases among residents and 29,497 deaths. The latest figures include about 95% of nursing homes.

AP’s analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that nearly half of the more than 15,000 nursing homes have reported suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of June 7. About 1 in 5 facilities — or 21% — have reported deaths.

The state of New York, which is known to be underreporting COVID-19 nursing home-related deaths in its official count of at least 6,300 deaths, would account for at least 21% of these deaths. New Jersey, which copied New York's deadly coronavirus nursing home policy, adds another 6,180 lab-confirmed deaths to the national total accounts for another 21% of all COVID-19 nursing home deaths in the U.S.

NY’s Cuomo, NJ’s Murphy ignore request to explain controversial nursing home policies

Both New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy are rejecting requests to testify before the U.S. House of Representative's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis about the policies their states implemented forcing nursing homes to admit COVID-19 infected patients, claiming the request is "pure politics" and that the committee lacks oversight authority.

We will note that rejecting the requests to testify before Congress will also limit their exposure to legal liabilities that might arise from it.