Idaho nursing homes and care facilities report big drop in new COVID-19 cases
Six months after the coronavirus pandemic came to Idaho, nursing homes and other care facilities are still battling outbreaks of COVID-19. But the latest reports from state and federal health agencies show a big shift from the fast-growing case numbers of recent months.
The latest data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show that 38 facilities in the state had a new case of COVID-19 among staff or residents. That’s down from 61 the week before.
The data show that more than 78% of the Idaho nursing homes, assisted living facilities and group homes where COVID-19 has struck since March had no new cases.
COVID-19 cases in Idaho nursing homes, long term care
Almost 2,300 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Idaho’s nursing homes, assisted living facilities and group homes since the pandemic began, according to Idaho long term care and federal nursing home records.
Idaho has just over 400 long-term care facilities. Of those, 175 have reported at least one case of suspected or lab-confirmed COVID-19, the records show.
Dozens of facilities have managed to halt the coronavirus before it could infect more than one resident or staff member; others have had large outbreaks, with more than 50 people infected. COVID-19 has taken the lives of at least 227 people in Idaho’s long term care facilities.
Several nursing homes have told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that they lack adequate protective equipment to keep their staff and patients safe. Many long-term care facilities have reported shortages of nursing staff, aides and other employees.
More than half the people who had confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in Idaho’s nursing homes were the employees, according to CDC records.
Families have reported trouble getting information about outbreaks and coronavirus testing in their loved ones’ facilities. To help provide more transparency, the Idaho Statesman has created a searchable online database and map, using state and federal records.
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What to know about our COVID-19 database
There are likely to be some inaccuracies in the data. These may be due to reporting delays, data entry errors, clerical errors or faulty reporting.
The state records are based on information reported to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The federal records are based on information reported to the CDC by nursing homes.
The CDC record is more than a week behind the state record, so its data may be significantly delayed. In some cases, the CDC data may overstate the number of cases in a facility. For example, one nursing home’s CDC record showed three infected residents for every one person who actually lived there. The Statesman has redacted CDC numbers that are likely to be inaccurate in the database.
The CDC numbers also can include suspected cases that later tested negative but aren’t removed from the record.
Some cases that nursing homes report to the CDC do not show up in state records. A handful of nursing homes were reporting cases to the CDC for months before the state’s records showed any cases there. While the CDC data includes all confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19, the state includes an outbreak when a facility has at least one case confirmed by a lab test.
The numbers in the Statesman database include confirmed cases, as well as probable/suspected cases. Those are residents or staff who have symptoms and an exposure to the coronavirus but who didn’t test positive or weren’t tested at all.
The state recently completed 115 inspections at nursing homes, looking specifically at COVID-19 infection control. They found 49 nursing homes had no deficiencies in their practices, 66 with at least one deficiency and nine nursing homes with deficiencies that put their residents in immediate danger.
The most common problems inspectors found included failing to properly isolate or separate patients with COVID-19, improper hand hygiene or use of PPE, screening people who entered the facility and not having dedicated staff for residents with COVID-19, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
See an error in the database? Email reporter Audrey Dutton at adutton@idahostatesman.com. Have a story for us to investigate? Follow the instructions at idahostatesman.com/news/investigative-tips to communicate with our investigative team as safely and securely as possible.
This story was originally published September 5, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
