The recent rise in new coronavirus cases is being felt in Louisiana's nursing homes, which have reported a sharp increase in COVID-related deaths in the last three weeks, according to data from the Louisiana Department of Health.
Nursing homes in Louisiana reported 19 COVID deaths since June 29, according to information published by LDH Wednesday. By comparison, the state reported only seven COVID-related nursing home deaths in June.
The increase follows a rise in COVID infections around Louisiana, where 48 of 64 parishes have what LDH calls "high" levels of coronavirus infections. All but one of the remaining parishes have "medium" levels and trends are upward in almost every parish.
Cases in nursing homes have generally tracked closely with outbreaks in their surrounding communities, often attributed to asymptomatic staff members unknowlingly bringing the virus in. This week, LDH reported 465 new cases among nursing home staff around the state, continuing a trend of recent increases in staff cases.
More worryingly is that proportion of staffers who have received both vaccination shots plus a booster remains low, said Andrew Muhl of the AARP Louisiana office. Nursing homes reported an average of 32% of staff that had received the vaccine and at least one booster, the state numbers show.
"Nursing homes are going to have to be more vigilant," Muhl said. "We've got to ensure that these places are making sure their people are fully vaccinated."
Late last year, the Biden Administration issued an emergency rule requiring nursing home employees to be vaccinated. But that rule required only two shots, and no booster. An average of 54% of employees at Louisiana nursing homes report having had two shots, the numbers show.
Rising infections in nursing homes is not unique to Louisiana. Data collected by AARP shows cases and deaths in nursing homes nationwide began to rise in May and June to levels not seen since the omicron wave in the early part of this year.
Through June 19, coronavirus was blamed for nearly 3,300 deaths among Louisiana nursing home residents, AARP's data shows.
Current infections, while climbing, remain far below earlier spikes in late summer of last year and the early part of this year.
As of Wednesday, the Department of Health attributed more than 17,000 deaths in Louisiana to coronavirus. The vast majority of those -- more than 10,600 -- have been among people older than 70 years old, state data shows.
In Louisiana, nursing homes were at the epicenter of the early parts of the pandemic, as the highly transmissible disease wrought havoc in communal living situations, especially among medically vulnerable residents.
The state responded with lockdowns and quarantines, restricting the numbers and types of activities for residents, as well imposing severe limits on visitation. Those measures were lifted as vaccines were more widely distributed and infections began to wane.
