New AARP Analysis Shows Devastating Impact of the Omicron Variation in Rhode Island Nursing Homes

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Surge Peak Drove Cases Among Staff and Residents to Highest Rate Since June 2020,

Pointing to the Continuing Need to Protect Nursing Home Residents

As the number of COVID-19 cases declines nationwide and in Rhode Island, AARP’s Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard, covering the four-week period ending January 23, paints a grim picture of the devastation caused by the surge of the Omicron variant in America’s nursing homes and underscores the need for booster shots to protect both residents and staff.

Staff cases were more than 11 times as high nationwide as in last month’s Dashboard (covering the four weeks ending December 19), with resident cases nationwide more than eight times as high.

Here in Rhode Island, staff cases increased nearly tenfold from the rate of 2.96 per 100 residents in December to 24.5 during the same time period in January. Resident cases spiked from a rate of 2.6 to 15.8. Nursing home resident deaths from COVID-19 increased from 0.18 per 100 residents in December to 0.30 in January.

The latest data from the Dashboard also shows as of January 23, that 72% of nursing home residents in Rhode Island were fully vaccinated with a booster dose, an increase from mid-December’s 61.8%. Meanwhile, 35.6% of direct care staff had received a booster, an increase from 24.8% in mid-December.

“We know boosters save lives, we know they help prevent infections and severe illness,” said Catherine Taylor, State Director of AARP Rhode Island, which serves more than 130,000 members age 50 and older in the Ocean State. “Even though the worst of the Omicron surge is hopefully behind us, the pandemic isn’t over. The delivery of booster doses to nursing home residents and staff must remain a high priority as these residents are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and its variants.”

The number of facilities in Rhode Island reporting a shortage of nurses or aides increased from 32.9% to 52.1%. in the four weeks ending January 23.

"The last two years have highlighted the chronic, ongoing issues that have long plagued nursing homes—such as the shortage of direct care workers, which is now a crisis; low pay that drives workers to take second and third jobs in multiple facilities; and shared rooms and bathrooms – and that are chief contributors to poor infection control,” said Taylor.

“AARP Rhode Island is fighting for reforms to protect nursing home residents and ensure long-term care facilities provide high-quality care. Specifically, AARP Rhode Island urges state lawmakers to:

• address the direct care workforce shortage through a combination of a wages increases, paid training, professional development, and enhanced benefits
• enact an enhanced rate for single rooms in nursing homes, retroactively.

"Now is the time to address the challenges that jeopardize the health and safety of nursing home residents, so we are well prepared for future COVID-19 variants.”

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 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 Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard is available at www.aarp.org/nursinghomedashboard, and an AARP story about this month’s data is available here. For more information on how coronavirus is impacting nursing homes and AARP’s advocacy on this issue, visit www.aarp.org/nursinghomes. 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.