WASHINGTON – COVID-19 cases at U.S. nursing homes are rising to another peak amid the Omicron surge across the country, according to the latest data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Nursing homes reported a near-record of over 32,000 COVID-19 cases among residents in the week ending Jan. 9, an almost sevenfold increase from a month earlier, according to CDC data.
The new weekly increase of nursing home COVID-19 cases marks the highest since the week ending on Dec. 20, 2020, when over 32,000 cases were reported.
A total of 645 COVID-19-related deaths among nursing home residents were reported during the same week, over a 30% increase from the week before. Health experts are concerned that deaths may continue to rise as the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly across the country.
Nursing home officials are responding to the surge by limiting visitors, reinstituting social distancing, and pushing more residents and staff members to get vaccinated and boosted.
Nursing home residents were hit the hardest since the onset of the pandemic in the country. In December 2020, nursing home deaths per week topped out at about 6,200.
Experts said high vaccination rates among nursing home residents have offered strong protection to this age group.
As of Jan. 13, 95% of people ages 65 years or older in the country have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 87.9% are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
The recent COVID-19 surge in the United States driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant is leading to record high cases, hospitalizations, and critical shortages of healthcare staff.
The country is now averaging nearly 800,000 new COVID-19 cases each day and nearly 1,800 new deaths each day, up significantly week by week, according to the latest CDC data.
Some colleges across the country went remote again as students return to school after winter breaks, in order to avoid increasing infections on campus.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday the next few weeks will be tough.
“The challenge is that the entire country is not moving at the same pace,” Murthy said in an interview. “The Omicron wave started later in other parts of the country. We shouldn’t expect a national peak in the coming days.” (Xinhua) – bny
