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Sunday, Jun 21, 2020

Did Florida coronavirus policies result in lower mortality rates from COVID-19 for nursing home residents?

William Boger, Gigafact Foundry
yes

Florida, where more than 20% of residents are 65 or over, took steps in May to ensure nursing home residents who tested positive for the coronavirus would be transferred to a hospital. The state issued strict testing, reporting, and screening protocols for facilities, and worked with federal Medicare and Medicaid administrators to pay for the hospital stays even if the transferred patients didn't actually need their services.

Several other states allowed hospitals to transfer positive patients into nursing homes as soon as they were able to be discharged, increasing the risk of exposure to other residents. In New York, for instance, that policy appears to have contributed to a 6% mortality rate from COVID-19 among the state's nursing home residents, compared with 1.5% in Florida.

Sources

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