COVID-19 Cases in Idaho Surged Over Thanksgiving

AARP Idaho Issues special report on COVID-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes around Thanksgiving; Urges caution during upcoming holidays.

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COVID-19 cases and deaths in Idaho nursing homes continued to increase through the Thanksgiving surge, according to a new special report by AARP's Public Policy Institute, issued as a supplement to the organization's monthly Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard.

In the weeks analyzed by AARP, November 16 to December 6, Idaho nursing homes experienced:

• 1.40 COVID-19 deaths per 4 weeks per 100 residents, up from .63 between October 19 and November 15
• 10 new COVID-19 cases per 4 weeks per 100 residents, up from 6.4 between October 19 and November 15
• 12.3 new staff COVID-19 cases per 4 weeks per 100 residents, up from 9.7 between October 19 and November 15
  

This rapid increase in nursing home deaths and cases in these last three weeks is on top of the similarly alarming trend identified in the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard that reported data through November 15.

"Public health experts had warned Americans that cases would increase as families traveled and visited each other over Thanksgiving, and the reported numbers have proved these warnings correct," said Lupe Wissel, AARP Idaho state director. "The continued increase of community spread is taking a devastating toll on nursing home residents and staff. It is our hope Idahoans will take the necessary precautions to stay safe over Christmas and the New Year holidays."

Nationally, the rate of nursing home resident deaths, cases, and staff cases have each more than tripled in just seven weeks. Deaths and cases continue to surge, with the most recent week being the highest of all.

The AARP special report includes national and state data, and serves as a supplement to the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard, released monthly.

Using data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services—which is self-reported by nursing homes—the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard to provide four-week snapshots of the virus' infiltration into nursing homes and impact on nursing home residents and staff. The dashboard will continue to be updated every four weeks. The complete dashboard is available at aarp.org/nursinghomedashboard.