Edited by: JV Staff
As the lethal Coronavirus continues to devastate the lives of people throughout the world, in New York City the situation is most dire as it pertains to those who lost their lives in nursing homes.
According to a NY Post report, 2000 residents of New York City nursing homes have died as a result of the virus as was reported by data emanating from the state health department. They are among the 3500 that have lost their lives in nursing homes across the country.
Speaking to the NY Post, family members of those who died at city nursing homes said that the last days of their relatives were marked by facilities who were evasive in releasing information about the status of residents.
On March 25th, New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo issued a mandate calling on nursing homes to admit “medically stable” COVID-19 patients, while acknowledging that these facilities are essentially petrie dishes for the rapid spread of the deadly virus. The elderly and those with underlying conditions or who are immuno-compromised are the most vulnerable. He also said, according to a NY Post report that “it’s not our job” to provide the nursing homes with personal protective equipment.
One woman told the Post that her family only discovered by accident their mother’s Long Island home had been hit with an outbreak. Another victim died in a Staten Island facility weeks before his scheduled release.
Speaking to the Post on the condition of anonymity was a nursing home administrator from Brooklyn with 25 years on the job. “This is a death sentence for frail and elderly patients. There’s nowhere safe. This is a lack of respect for human life from our governor.”
The Post recounted several stories about families whose relatives died of the virus while under the care of a nursing home. Speaking to the newspaper, Ellen Cariddi had no clue that her elderly mother had contracted pink eye while at the Huntington Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation or that coronavirus was prevalent at the facility.
Cariddi’s mother, Evelyn Gengenbach told her daughter she was going to be moved to another unit. Cariddi said that when she and other family members contacted the facility to ask why they moved her mother to another unit they were told: “We are moving your mom to the healthy part,” Cariddi said. “It wasn’t until we made that phone call that we were told someone was diagnosed in her unit.”
According to the Post report, Cariddi moved Gengenbach out of the nursing home on March 26. Gengenbach died at Winthrop Hospital on April 15 from coronavirus. She was 85 and “the love of our lives,” Cariddi said.
On Thursday, Cuomo announced that the State Department of Health is partnering with Attorney General Letitia James to investigate nursing homes who violate Executive Orders requiring these facilities to communicate COVID-19 test results and deaths to residents’ families.
The Governor also announced a new directive requiring nursing homes to immediately report to DOH the actions they have taken to comply with all DOH and CDC laws, regulations, directives and guidance. DOH will inspect facilities that have not complied with these directives, including separation and isolation policies, staffing policies and inadequate personal protective equipment, and if DOH determines that the facilities failed to comply with the directives and guidance, DOH will immediately require the facility to submit an action plan. Facilities could be fined $10,000 per violation or potentially lose their operating license.
The Governor previously issued Executive Orders and the Health Department and CDC have issued guidance requiring nursing homes to provide personal protective equipment and temperature checks for staff; isolate COVID residents in quarantine; separate staff and transfer COVID residents within a facility to another long-term care facility or to another non-certified location; notify all residents and their family members within 24 hours if any resident tests positive for COVID or if any resident suffers a COVID related death; and readmit COVID positive residents only if they have the ability to provide adequate level of care under DOH and CDC guidelines.
On Saturday, the AP reported that health officials in South Carolina announced 180 new coronavirus cases and eight new deaths.
Eight of the deaths reported Saturday were elderly victims, and one was middle aged, the agency said.
The known number of coronavirus cases at a Columbia nursing home more than doubled in two days, The State newspaper reported. The Midland Health and Rehabilitation Center, which has 88 beds, had 73 confirmed COVID-19 cases among staff and residents, according to data from the state health department.
A nursing home in Hanahan ranked second on the department’s list with 62 cases, and a facility in Greer had 40 cases. Nursing homes are connected to at least 435 coronavirus cases and 28 deaths in South Carolina.
For most people, the coronavirus behind the pandemic causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, it can cause severe illness such as pneumonia, or even death.
