HARRISBURG, Pa. — More than two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s coronavirus-related deaths have occurred in residents of long-term care facilities. The state’s death toll tied to nursing homes has risen to 3,086. Teams from the Pennsylvania National Guard and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been deployed to long-term care facilities to help with infection control.
On May 12, state health officials vowed to implement mass testing in nursing homes and personal care facilities. Now, they are taking a tapered approach and will roll out details of the plan later this week.
“Not necessarily every facility will be tested weekly,” announced Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s Health Secretary. “It’s going to be individualized to the facility depending upon how many cases of COVID-19 they have.”
The National Guard has been deployed to 10 nursing homes, filling in for employees and providing medical supplies.
“We live here, we train here, we serve here. We’re proud to take care of our fellow citizens who are in need,” said Colonel Frank Montgomery, director of Military Support for the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Governor Tom Wolf said Pennsylvania’s Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) has been tracking the virus since January. However, PEMA's Director, Randy Padfield, said it is hard to tell if conditions in nursing homes have improved overall.
“We see improvements in certain nursing homes. There’s a different level of intervention that occurs and that is coordinated by the Department of Health," explained Padfield. "In certain other circumstances, the outbreak continues to grow and that’s when we usually get the National Guard involved.”
Many families fear long-term care facilities have become death traps. Nursing homes are forced to admit patients from hospitals who tested positive for COVID-19. In some states, like New York, hospitals can send patients to nursing homes only if they tested negative for the virus.
When asked if Pennsylvania was considering other options, Dr. Levine responded, “Nothing has been easy, especially with the challenges facing these long-term living facilities. We’re going to explore every opportunity we can to keep them safe.”
On May 19, the Department of Health will begin releasing specific data on infections in nursing homes. You can find more COVID-19 information for nursing homes here.