'Like fire through dry grass': America's nursing homes are latest Covid-19 hot spots
WASHINGTON - Nursing homes across the United States are becoming the latest hot spots for Covid-19 infections, with outbreaks in long-term care facilities and retirement communities reported in several states in recent days.
The coronavirus raced through the Pleasant View Nursing Home in Maryland, infecting 77 of its 95 residents, or a whopping 81 per cent, and killing five of them in as many days.
Local health officials said that all five had underlying medical conditions, and ranged in age from being in their 60s to their 90s.
Over in Tennessee, two residents of the Gallatin Centre for Rehabilitation and Healing died as more than 100 of its residents and staff members tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The outbreak prompted the evacuation of the remaining residents elsewhere as the 204-bed nursing home underwent deep cleaning.
Nearly 15 per cent of New York's 1,200 Covid-19 related deaths were nursing home residents as of Monday, according to a spokesman for the state's health department. More than 1,000 confirmed cases have been reported in 155 nursing homes across the state.
"This virus preys on the vulnerable. It preys on seniors, it preys on people with compromised immune systems and underlying illnesses, and coronavirus in a nursing home can be like fire through dry grass," said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
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