At 81.7% Minnesota has nation’s highest percentage of Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes. Gov. says will increase testing. Only 96 in Minnesota died of Covid-19 outside a nursing home

Only 96 Covid-19 deaths occurred in Minnesota outside a nursing home. Total Covid-19 deaths in Minnesota: 633….Of these, 537 occurred in nursing homes, as of 5/14/20. Minnesota Gov. Walz announced plans to increase testing in nursing homes, but Health Commissioner  Malcolm “said Tuesday it will take weeks until the plan is implemented.” 

May 14, 2020, “Analysis: Minnesota has highest percent of COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities in the nation," The Center Square, Scott McClallen 

“About 81.7 percent of Minnesota’s COVID-19 deaths were in nursing homes and residential care communities, the highest percentage state in the nation that reports such data. 

That’s according to data from The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP), a Texas-based nonprofit think tank. 

State data reports 537 deaths out of a total of 663 deaths took place in long-term care facilities (LTCF). 

Minnesota’s nursing home and residential care community COVID-19 fatality rates are much higher than neighboring states that reported data. 

Wisconsin reported 42.5 percent of COVID-19 deaths in those facilities, the analysis says, while Iowa reported 56 percent

 Infectious Disease Division Director Kris Ehresmann told The Center Square the state’s LTCF COVID-19 death rate is higher in Minnesota because of aggressive testing. 

“Our focus on LTC [Long term care] means we will have more deaths because we are testing in the age group where we expect to see more fatalities AND we have now identified everyone as a case – so their death will count,” Ehresmann wrote in an email

 [Minnesota] Gov. Tim Walz said last week the state is prepared “to go on the offensive” to reduce deaths and infections in long-term care facilities with a five-point plan. 

The plan includes actively screening residents and staff for COVID-19, expanding testing to all symptomatic people in the facility, and performing a facility-wide test after a confirmed case or when people develop symptoms. 

[Health Commissioner Jan] Malcolm said Tuesday it will take weeks until the plan is implemented. 

COVID-19 hit LTCF [Long term care facilities] nationwide as residents fall into two high at-risk categories: the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions that compromise their immune systems.”… 

“Based on a new analysis of state-by-state COVID-19 fatality reports, it is clear that the most underappreciated aspect of the novel coronavirus pandemic is its effect on a specific population of Americans: those living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.”…


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