Long-term care facilities have 70% of metro Phoenix COVID-19 deaths
May 14, 2020, 1:07 PM | Updated: May 15, 2020, 6:28 pm
PHOENIX – More than 70% of metro Phoenix coronavirus deaths were residents of long-term care facilities, according to the latest county health data.
Of the Valley’s 286 deaths from COVID-19 reported by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health through Wednesday, 203 (70.9%) were long-term facility residents.
The venues – including skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, rehabilitation facilities and hospice facilities — also have seen 1,071 coronavirus cases among residents and 496 among staff.
That represents 25% of Maricopa County’s 6,199 cases.
Cases have been documented in 150 long-term care facilities in Arizona’s most-populous county.
On Thursday morning, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported totals of 12,674 COVID-19 cases and 624 deaths.
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The coronavirus has hit nursing homes and other long-term care facilities hard across the state, U.S. and world because residents live in close quarters and are at high risk of serious symptoms and death if infected because of their age and health conditions.
On Tuesday, the state announced plans to test all patients and staff at long-term care facilities for COVID-19.
That announcement came a day after the Trump administration strongly recommended that all individuals in such facilities be tested within the next two weeks.
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Maricopa County has been releasing more details daily about coronavirus incidents at long-term facilities than the state has, although neither has revealed the names of the locations affected despite calls from the media and advocacy groups.
The state has maintained it can’t reveal that information because of privacy laws.
Significant outbreaks at several facilities have been documented, including the Glencroft Center for Modern Aging in Glendale, which reportedly has around 70 cases among residents and staff and seven deaths among residents.
On April 21, Pennington Gardens in Chandler announced that 13 residents had died of COVID-19.
