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Nursing homes proved to be some of the earliest epicenters of America’s coronavirus epidemic. But a new report from the New York Times details just how central nursing and long-term care facilities have been in the crisis: more than 54,000 residents and workers at such facilities have died from the virus—amounting to 43 percent of the country’s total deaths—and more than 282,000 people at them have been infected across 12,000 facilities.
From the outset of the pandemic early in 2020, nursing homes near Seattle and New York City reported the first cases of staggering numbers of infections and deaths. Residents at these facilities are especially high risk, since many are over 60 years old and have underlying medical conditions that can be exacerbated by the virus.
The Times report also found that in at least 24 states, a majority of deaths were found to be linked to nursing homes. The Times based its findings on official data from states, counties and facilities themselves, and will update the data as more information from these sources becomes available. You can keep up with it here.
