Virus hits nursing homes hard

Toll at 500 in just three weeks

TOLEDO » The number of people dying from the coronavirus in Ohio’s nursing homes has continued to increase at an alarming pace.

Close to 500 residents of longterm care centers have died in the past three weeks, according to data released by the state this week. That’s nearly double the total reported for the previous two weeks.

The increase in deaths could be attributed to a significant jump or a backlog of cases being added over the past week, said Melanie Amato, a spokeswoman for the state health department.

Since mid-April, more than 4,300 nursing home residents and staff members have tested positive for the virus.

The numbers, though, don’t tell the entire story of how the virus has devastated nursing homes during the pandemic because the Ohio Department of Health has only released the totals for just the past three weeks.

Before that, the state didn’t require local health departments to report nursing home

deaths linked to the virus so any numbers collected before mid-April may not be accurate, Amato said Friday.

Overall, the nursing home deaths reported since April 15 account for 40% of all the virus-related deaths in Ohio since the first one was reported in midMarch.

Seven counties across the state have seen more than 30 deaths at long-term care centers in the past three weeks.

Toledo and Lucas County reported the most, 65, which doubled the number from last week. Franklin and Mahoning counties both had 46 nursing home deaths during that time.

For many nursing homes, it’s virtually impossible to keep the virus out, especially in cities where it has spread widely, said Dr. Mark Gloth, chief medical officer for Toledo-based HCR ManorCare.

Most of the buildings were never designed as hospital environments and include shared spaces meant to encourage social interaction, he said.

The mortality rate is nearly 15% among residents who’ve tested positive at the company’s nursing homes operated nationwide, Gloth said.

About half of its more than 200 long-term care centers have had residents with the virus—with some of the larger facilities recording as many as 100 cases, he said earlier this week.

The biggest frustration has been with the lack of personal protection equipment, especially gowns, and testing kits, Gloth said. “Long-term care is an after thought,” he said.

The worry now is that the shortages will increase as states are lifting orders that had stopped non-essential medical procedures, he said.

Cases

The number of confirmed and probable deaths associated with the coronavirus in Ohio has reached 1,306, state health officials said Friday. The department noted more than 23,000 presumptive and confirmed cases of the virus, including just over 4,200 hospitalizations.

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in a couple of weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

Roman Catholic Masses

The Catholic Conference of Ohio announced on Friday that public masses will resume the weekend of May 30-31, when the Christian holy day of Pentecost is celebrated. The state’s bishops say dioceses can begin planning for “soft opening” dates for masses later this month with proper social distancing and seating limited to less than half of a church’s normal capacity. The bishops are continuing to waive the obligation to attend mass.

Auto restart

Honda, which has about 8,000 manufacturing employees in Ohio and is the state’s largest manufacturer, will be gradually resuming North American production on Monday. The automaker said Friday it’s restarting plants on a staggered basis and the first day back to work will include training workers new procedures on COVID-19 prevention.

Protests

A suburban Columbus city council considered and then rejected a law that would have banned protests happening outside the home of Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton. Bexley City Council cited constitutional concerns and the risk of further inciting protesters in its decision not to move forward on Wednesday, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Protesters upset with Acton’s stay-at-home orders rallied outside her house over the weekend and again Monday.

Cedar Point

The amusement park along Lake Erie will wait until next year to celebrate its 150th anniversary even if the park is able to open this year. Cedar Point had been planning a long list of special events throughout the summer to mark the milestone, but park officials said Friday they will wait until 2021. Other special events, including its annual Coastermania gathering, also won’t take place this year.

Welsh-Huggins reported from Columbus.