New Data Indicates Current Surge of COVID-19 in Michigan Nursing Homes Has Not Yet Peaked

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49 States, including Michigan, Report New Deaths in July.

Disturbing new data indicates the current surge of COVID-19 has not yet peaked, with cases and deaths in America's nursing homes rising again for the third consecutive month, while vaccination rates and booster rates among vulnerable nursing home residents and staff have stagnated.

The rate of nursing home resident deaths nationwide increased by 13% in the four-week period ending July 17, according to 'AARP's Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard, compared to the previous Dashboard release. More than 850 resident deaths were reported nationwide.

Here in Michigan, resident deaths were down from .11 per 100 residents in the previous four-week period ending June 19, to .07 in the four-week period ending July 17. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 3,300 nursing home residents in Michigan have died from COVID-19.

The rate of resident cases and the rate of staff cases nationwide each increased by 30% in the four weeks ending July 17, according to the Dashboard. In Michigan, nursing home resident cases slightly decreased from a rate of 2.98 in the previous four-week period ending June 19, to 2.04 in the four-week period ending July 17. The rate of staff cases also decreased from a rate of 4.76 cases per 100 residents compared to 3.66 in the four-week period ending July 17.

Furthermore, as of mid-July, about 75% of residents and just over 51% of staff nationwide have been fully vaccinated and have received at least one booster dose. These rates are virtually unchanged from the previous month. The latest data from the AARP COVID-19 Nursing Home Dashboard shows that as of July 17, 73.6% of nursing home residents in Michigan were fully vaccinated with at least one booster dose, a slight increase from mid-June. Among nursing home staff, 38.5% are fully vaccinated with at least one booster dose, a slight decrease from mid-June.

"These new numbers are disturbing and underscore the fact that COVID is still relentless when it comes to the death and heartbreak it causes in nursing homes," said Paula Cunningham, State Director of AARP, which serves more than 1.3 million members age 50 and older in Michigan. "We must be just as relentless when it comes to getting residents and staff vaccinated and boosted, and holding nursing homes accountable for providing high-quality care and safe environments."

The AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard analyzes federally reported data in four-week periods going back to June 1, 2020. Using this data, the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the Dashboard to provide snapshots of the virus' infiltration into nursing homes and its impact on nursing home residents and staff, with the goal of identifying specific areas of concern at the national and state levels in a timely manner.

The full AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard is available at www.aarp.org/nursinghomedashboard. Medicare.gov's Care Compare website now offers information about vaccination and booster rates within individual nursing homes and how they compare to state and national averages.

For more information on how coronavirus is impacting nursing homes and AARP's advocacy on this issue, visit www.aarp.org/nursinghomes.