Tipsheet

Why Connecticut's Nursing Homes Could Become Graveyards in the Coming Weeks

Did everyone in Connecticut fall asleep since the start of the COVID pandemic? It’s hard to fathom how the “experts” can consider this good COVID policy when it’s shown that it was nothing more than a killer in New York. Then-NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo forced nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients at the start of the pandemic. Thousands died as a result, and that should shock no one. The elderly and infirmed were the most susceptible to death after infection. And we all know how if things spread in nursing homes. Omicron is milder. There is no doubt about that, but the risk of death for the elderly, the infirmed, the immunocompromised, etc., is still higher than the rest of the population. Yet, Connecticut thinks the New York model for COVID and nursing homes should be replicated (via The CT Mirror):

Nursing homes are being asked to accept COVID-positive admissions from hospitals, according to new guidance from the Department of Public Health, even as positivity rates within nursing homes are increasing sharply.

The latest guidance from the DPH is an indication that the state is trying to alleviate the growing crush of COVID-19 cases in hospitals as they near record numbers of patients.

Until Thursday, the health department required any patient transferred from a hospital to a long-term care facility to have a negative COVID test performed in the hospital within 48 hours of their transfer, but that requirement is now waived.

“Vaccination status of an individual should not influence decisions about hospital discharge or PAC admission,” according to the DPH.

The guidance puts significant pressure on nursing homes that are already facing severe staffing challenges and testing limitations, providers said.

We’ve seen this movie before. In fact, forget COVID, does anyone think it’s good to pack nursing homes with people infected with any contagious airborne pathogen that rears its head around winter whether that by colds or the common flu? No. maybe adhere to the new CDC guidelines for those exposed to Omicron; the quarantine period has been cut by five days. Maybe rethink the vaccine mandates for health care workers. The Supreme Court might put the kibosh on the mandates, but the overall policy of packing nursing homes with sick people is just mind-numbingly stupid. It’s always been that way, but it’s the red states who are morons about COVID right? Think again.