By Jason Dearen and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Lagging vaccination rates among nursing home staff are being linked to a national increase in COVID-19 infections and deaths at senior facilities, and are at the center of a federal investigation in a hard-hit Colorado location where disease detectives found many workers were not […]
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Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
117 Colorado nursing homes with COVID outbreaks received both fines and financial assistance from the federal government
By Zack Newman and Kevin Vaughn, 9News More than 100 Colorado nursing homes that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks were fined for poor infection control and other pandemic-related failures — but those very same facilities also pocketed financial bonuses tied to infection rates, a 9Wants to Know investigation discovered. The fines and bonuses all came from the […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, News
Colorado nursing homes with the most coronavirus deaths were cited for poor infection control
Last February, a month before coronavirus crawled through a Greeley nursing home, inspectors alerted the center’s managers of infection-control problems. Back then, before the pandemic had even arrived in Colorado, state regulators were worried about the way two nurses at Centennial Health Center cleaned a resident’s wound. The nursing home was cited for federal protocol […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, News
“Hug tent” allows for safe family embraces at Colorado home for the elderly
By Thomas Peipert, The Associated Press Lynda Hartman needed a hug. It had been at least eight months since she touched her 77-year-old husband, Len, who has dementia and has been at an assisted living center in suburban Denver for the last year. On Wednesday, she got a small taste of what life was like […]
Posted inCOVID, News, Politics and Government
Colorado to begin allowing indoor visitation at nursing homes as soon as next week
Gov. Jared Polis announced Wednesday that Colorado will begin allowing in-person visitation at nursing homes and long-term care facilities as soon as next week. That’s welcome news for families and friends who have been cut off from seeing their loved ones for months because of the pandemic. Coronavirus has been linked to the deaths of […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
How genetic sequencing is helping solve the mystery of coronavirus’ spread through Colorado nursing homes
As infections from the novel coronavirus earlier this year overwhelmed nursing homes across Colorado, those trying to stop the virus were presented with a mystery: How, exactly, was it getting into and spreading through facilities that were off-limits to outsiders and subject to rigorous infection-control rules? Now, a research team at Colorado State University has […]
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Coronavirus is killing fewer Colorado nursing home residents, but officials warn the state hasn’t “turned a corner”
The number of new deaths and cases of the coronavirus at Colorado nursing homes and senior care centers continues to slow, but public health officials cautioned on Wednesday that the state has not yet “turned a corner.” New deaths of nursing home and senior care center residents with coronavirus totaled 42 over the past week, […]
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Coronavirus deaths at Colorado nursing homes slow, reach 737; outbreaks at restaurants, stores continue to climb
The pace of coronavirus deaths among Colorado nursing home and senior care center residents slowed during the past week, rising by 26 to 737, according to state health officials. That’s a stark difference compared to recent weeks in which the state counted nearly 100 new fatalities each week. Deaths among residents of nursing homes and […]
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Colorado nursing home, senior care center coronavirus deaths hit 431, make up 56% of state’s fatalities
The deaths of 431 residents of nursing homes and senior care centers have been attributed to the new coronavirus, representing 56% of the 766 fatalities from the disease logged through Wednesday in Colorado. That’s an increase of more than 100 deaths among that group since totals were last announced a week ago. Total confirmed and […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
322 Colorado nursing home, senior-care center resident deaths linked to coronavirus
The deaths of 322 residents of nursing homes and senior care centers in Colorado have been linked to the new coronavirus, according to new data released by the state Wednesday, as the facilities remain the state’s most lethal area for the disease’s spread. The deaths at senior care fatalities represent an 83% increase over the […]