New data: One-third of COVID-19 deaths happened in nursing homes

Nearly 2,000 of Michigan’s 5,772 COVID-19 deaths happened in the state’s long-term care facilities, including nursing homes. That’s according to numbers released Monday by state officials.

The accounting comes after weeks of officials being unable to accurately report the extent of COVID-19 cases in the state’s nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

In response, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) annouced plans to test every resident and staff member of the state’s 450 nursing facilitites for the coronavirus.

Still, some are skeptical of the most recent stats, according to Bridge Magazine. State reporting is at odds with city reporting in some cases.

In Kalamazoo, COVID-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes occurred almost entirely at Medilodge of Kalamazoo.

Some experts say lack of testing is to blame for the spread of the coronavirus in long-term care facilities.

“If testing had been widely available from the outset, you would not have had such significant spread,” said Melissa Samuel, the president and CEO of the Health Care Association of Michigan. “Testing is the key, and it’s absolutely the path forward.”

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