A Kaiser Health News investigation found that many nursing homes and hospitals ignored official guidelines to separate COVID-19 patients from those not infected, according to an article on the NPR website.
A July National Nurses United survey found that 32 percent work in a facility that does not have a dedicated COVID-19 unit.
The KHN investigation found that patients with COVID-19 have been commingled with uninfected patients in healthcare facilities in states including California, Florida, New Jersey, Iowa, Ohio, Maryland and New York.
One example: A COVID-19 outbreak was in full swing at the New Jersey Veterans Home at Paramus in late April when inspectors observed residents with dementia mingling in a dayroom, including coronavirus-positive patients.
By the end of July 2020, more than 60,000 deaths had occurred in US nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, accounting for nearly half of all COVID-related fatalities nationwide.
Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that nursing homes must “provide supplies necessary to adhere to recommended infection prevention and control practices.”
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