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Data shows virus spread in nursing homes down sharply in Mass.
Telegram & Gazette - 7/9/2020
The positive COVID-19 test rate in long-term care facilities remains above the state average, and a public health official said Wednesday that the gap is closing.
Katherine Fillo, the Department of Public Health's director of clinical quality improvement, gave an update to the Public Health Council on the state's response to COVID-19 in nursing homes.
Most of the COVID-19 deaths in Massachusetts have been in long-term care facilities. The spread of the disease in nursing homes and similar settings has prompted state officials to take steps including providing nursing homes with additional funding, requiring testing for residents and staff and increasing infection control efforts. A new law also required the reporting of additional data on COVID-19 in elder care facilities.
The rate of positive tests, new daily COVID-19 cases and daily deaths in long-term care facilities are all now showing declines from earlier in the pandemic, according to Fillo's presentation.
The seven-day rolling average of new daily cases among residents and staff of skilled nursing facilities and rest homes was 31 on June 30, down from 212 on May 30.
The seven-day average of new daily COVID deaths in skilled nursing facilities and rest homes fell from 92 on May 10 to 24 on June 30, and has been in the teens and 20s throughout late June. Before the arrival of COVID-19, the average number of nursing facility deaths per day was 20, Fillo said.
Statewide, the seven-day weighted average of positive test rates has been hovering at or below 2 percent since June 18.
The seven-day average in long-term care facilities was 5 percent as of June 28. That's down from 16 percent on May 24, when the statewide rate was 8 percent. The long-term care positive rate was above 30 percent in late April.
"That gap is closing and is getting very close to being closed," Fillo said. "I think [that is] positive news and speaks to some of the work that's gone on and speaks to some of the proactive testing efforts."
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