49.2M people in US as of 2016. Lot of people. |
These are largely affluent people who have had the lifelong benefit of good nutrition, non strenuous physical labor, and access to high quality medical care. People from other backgrounds have very different experiences of their seventies and eighties. |
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MD’s nursing home numbers updated today and the situation is even worse for people there.
Cases: Residents — 4342 — 15% of total MD cases Staff — 1926 — 6.7% of total MD cases Deaths: Residents — 793 — 59% of total MD deaths Staff — 11 — 0.8% of total MD deaths At a 0.5% fatality rate among staff, we continue to see them falling below MD’s overall fatality rate of 4.7%, which is obviously good for that population. If you assume all nursing home residents are above 60, 66% of deaths in that age group are in nursing homes. |
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Once again this proved this epidemic hits the most vulnerable the hardest
For the vast majority of us it's very minor and we should start functioning like we do during the flu season watchful, stay home if you are sick, but generally go about your business. |
I agree. What’s particularly striking to me is how many deaths in that older age bracket are coming from nursing homes. The fatality rate of those 60+ not in nursing homes is about 9%. Still scarily high, but nothing like the nursing home fatality rate, which is 18%. Older people are still quite vulnerable, but they aren’t as vulnerable if they aren’t in nursing homes. |
That's basically what Florida is doing. Devoting most of their COVID-19 resources to nursing homes and monitoring and quarantining them while reopening for everyone else. People and conspiracy theorists will want to screech but this is what the rest of the country will be doing in a matter of time. |
| FYI for folks who are tracking this: nursing home data for MD updates every Wednesday around 10am, according to MD’s COVID website. |
Which just makes sense — if you need skilled nursing care to survive, almost any illness or setback (I.e. a fall) is going to be enough to kill you. |
DeSantis certainly seems a bit of an idiot, but Florida has done very well so far given that it had early cases and has a very old population. Florida also has second most international visitors after NY. The state has weathered spring breakers, cruise drop offs, fleeing ny’ers, etc. . . |
Nursing home staff tend to be in good physical health and fairly young because it's an intensely physical job. |
But let's use some logic here. They are more vulnerable to begin with, which is why they're in the nursing home. Yes, the rate of infection is higher because of contact with staff that those not in the home don't have. But the fatality rate is higher because they were sicker to begin with--not because you're less likely to survive just because you're in the nursing home. |
When was the last time you were in a nursing home? This just isn't true. I agree that it can be an intense job, but I haven't seen a super fit and healthy work force in the ones I have been to recently. |
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My late father's local skilled nursing home and my grandma's in Atlanta had predominantly African (both places, Ghana) , Eastern European and Central American immigrants.
Average age 40. |
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I’m bothered by the tone of many of these posts, saying life just isn’t worth living anyway for people in nursing homes, and giving excuses why nursing home workers might be ill, like they weren’t “super fit.”
It’s a good thing we don’t make policy based on the prejudices of the young. Right now you might think life isn’t worthy living once you get wrinkles, but you may change your mind someday. |
+1 |