Coronavirus deaths in long-term care facilities in New York rose to 3,425 people as of April 18, according to data released late yesterday by the State Department of Health — an increase of 109 people since April 15, the date for which the state last reported deaths in long-term care facilities.
Deaths in long-term care facilities continue to account for one-quarter of all coronavirus deaths in the state, where the outbreak as of April 18 had claimed 13,869 lives.
The New York State Health Facilities Association again called on the State Department of Health to modify its March 25 guidance document requiring nursing homes to admit confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients from hospitals, so long as the patients were “medically stable.” See prior story: “As coronavirus began to escalate, state officials ordered nursing homes to accept COVID patients”
The health department’s March 25 directive also prohibited nursing homes from requiring COVID-19 testing of hospitalized patients returning to the nursing homes.
“We continue to be deeply concerned about the high mortality rate and how widespread COVID-19 has become in long-term care facilities,” Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the association, said in a press release yesterday.
New York State did not release statistics about COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities until April 14 and it has not yet released information about COVID-19 cases in its 619 long-term care facilities.
LIVE UPDATES: Coronavirus coverage, maps and cases by town.
The Federal government will now require nursing homes to report COVID-19 cases and deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under a new directive from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said at the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing last night.
The New York State Health Facilities Association and the New York State Center for Assisted Living said long-term care facilities need “priority status for assistance with staffing, PPE shortages and testing to protect our residents and staff.”
“From the onset of this pandemic, nursing homes and assisted living providers have been the proverbial canary in the coal mine as to the devastation this virus can impose,” Hanse said.
The state yesterday also released updated partial data on COVID-19 deaths at individual long-term care facilities. The individual facility data accounts for only about a third of the deaths the state says have occurred in residents of those facilities as of April 18 — 1,214 of the 3,425 deaths. The state said it is withholding data for facilities where five or fewer deaths have occurred “for privacy purposes.” It is unclear whether the data includes deaths of residents who were diagnosed with the disease without confirmation by testing.
In a statement accompanying the data, the state health department said, “Some adult care facilities include presumed COVID-19 deaths as well as confirmed COVID-19 deaths. Future updates will separate the categories.”
NYC & LI account for 84% of long-term care deaths
Eighty-four percent of the state’s long-term care facility deaths have been in nursing homes and adult care facilities in New York City and Long Island, where 2,863 long-term care residents have died.
In Suffolk, 375 residents in long-term care have died. In Nassau, that number climbed to 393.
Suffolk nursing homes and adult care facilities reporting more than five deaths as of April 18, according to the State Health Department were:
Apex Rehabilitation & Care Center: 27
Luxor Nursing and Rehabilitation at Mills Pond: 22
Our Lady of Consolation Nursing & Rehabilitative Care Center: 15
Island Nursing and Rehab Center: 10
Good Samaritan Nursing & Rehabilitation Care Center: 12
Sunrise of Dix Hills: 8
Sunrise of Smithtown: 7
Babylon Beach House Home for Adults: 7
Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center: 6
Luxor Nursing & Rehabilitation at Sayville: 6
Peconic Landing at Southold: 6
Peconic Landing has publicly reported nine resident deaths to date. Five residents died at local hospitals and four died at the facility, according to Peconic Landing press releases. The governor’s press office did not respond to a request for explanation of the discrepancy.
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