The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) recently analyzed self-reported nursing home data and found that COVID-19 related infections and deaths in nursing homes are related to infected staff members. The data found that approximately one in four nursing home staff members were infected with COVID-19 between March and early June.
The study also found:
- The timing of staff infections correlates with the timing of peak nursing home resident mortality across the state;
- Nursing home employee infections were related to the most impacted regions in the state;
- Peak nursing home admissions occurred a week after peak nursing home mortality, therefore illustrating that nursing home admissions from hospitals were not a driver of nursing home infections or fatalities;
- Most patients admitted to nursing homes from hospitals were no longer contagious when admitted and therefore were not a source of infection; and,
- Nursing home quality was not a factor in nursing home fatalities.