Nursing homes seeing spikes in Covid cases – Are you testing yet?
By Alison Adduono, Director of Marketing Communications
A recent article in Skilled Nursing News revealed that according to AARP, during the four weeks ending on August 20, 2023, the rate of COVID-19 resident deaths increased by 80% compared to the prior four weeks in July 2023.
AARP, which pulls data from The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), also reported that during this same period that the rate of Covid-19 staff and resident cases more than doubled compared to the previous four weeks. About 1 in 47 residents contracted Covid-19, which is up from about 1 in 100 in July. Furthermore, about one in four nursing homes, or 24 percent, had resident infections, and more than one in three, or 36 percent, had employee infections.
Where do nursing homes stand with vaccinations?
Vaccination rates in skilled nursing facilities are lacking, too, according to current CMS-reported data:
62% of residents were up to date with the bivalent booster
25% of health care staff were up to date with the bivalent booster
14% (1 in 7) were not vaccinated at all
Approximately 500,000 residents and 1.5 million staff are still not up to date on vaccinations as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
The lag in updating vaccination status is understandable, given that updated boosters only recently became available. On September 11, 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mRNA vaccines for the 2023-2024 COVID “season” manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer. The updated vaccine boosters are said to provide protection against Omicron variant XBB.1.5 (aka Kraken) and manufacturer data suggest that they’re also a good match for protecting against the currently circulating COVID-19 variants EG.5 (Eris) and BA.2.86 (Pirola).
Nursing home COVID information from AARP
The American Association of Retired Persons (otherwise known as AARP) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to “empowering people to choose how they live as they age” by offering a wealth of information through their AARP website. It is an excellent resource for anyone working in, residing in, or considering a senior living facility. It covers a variety of COVID-19 related topics including, but not limited to:
Vaccine information
COVID variants
Nursing home news
Questions to ask a nursing home
Masking
Latest COVID news and updates
COVID treatments
They even offer a Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard.
How about COVID-19 testing?
Some nursing homes relaxed their testing routines earlier this year when COVID-19 cases dipped, but with this latest spike, some administrators (such as those at Bay Pines VA Community Living Center) are intensifying their efforts to screen for and test for the virus in order to prevent a larger outbreak. Long term care residents (many of which are elderly and/or have underlying health conditions) and staff are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks due to their close proximity to one another. By testing frequently and routinely, facility-wide testing can minimize the breadth of this virus, which can be spread unknowingly by asymptomatic individuals.
While there are a variety of choices for COVID-19 testing, good clinical practice suggests facilities should use a more sensitive point of care molecular diagnostic platform (such as the AscencioDx® system) as it reduces the rate of false negatives typically seen with antigen testing in patients with low viral loads. For product or purchasing information contact sales@anavasidx.com.
Resources:
COVID-19 Nursing Home Data - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Data (cms.gov)
COVID-19 Nursing Home Resident and Staff Deaths: AARP Nursing Home Dashboard
Florida nursing home requiring masks amid rise in COVID-19 cases | NewsNation (newsnationnow.com)
Where Speed, Efficiency, & Accuracy Align
The AscencioDx® Covid-19 Test and The AscencioDx® Molecular Detector have not been FDA cleared or approved, but have been authorized for emergency use by FDA under an EUA for use by authorized laboratories. This product has been authorized only for the detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, not for any other viruses or pathogens. The emergency use of this product is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of in vitro diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 under Section 564(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the declaration is terminated or authorization is revoked sooner.