COVID Q&A | Outbreaks in Nursing Homes: Why Ohio People Are Not Spoken More? -News-Columbus dispatch

Everyone on Facebook and Twitter seems to know someone who has real knowledge about the new coronavirus. However, social media stories are true, honest mistakes, or lies. Asked an expert to answer some of the questions about the coronavirus that roam the internet. Here is what we found:

Why don’t the general public know more about the outbreak of coronaviruses in nursing homes?

Nearly 64% of Ohio coronavirus deaths occur in nursing homes or nursing homes, but public disclosure of outbreaks at these facilities is complex and often incomplete.

This is because the reporting system for COVID-19, a disease caused by coronaviruses, is built around notification to individuals rather than the general public.

The mechanism is as follows. Nursing homes and nursing homes should report cases and deaths to their local health department and then to the state health department. Since May 17, the facility is also required to report cases and deaths to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The facility is to notify residents, families, and potentially exposed individuals who have a positive reaction if a case is confirmed. Local health departments will then try to track people who have contacted the infected person through contact tracking to prevent the spread of the infection.

However, it is not necessary to publicly announce the occurrence.

It was the largest death toll in a nursing home in southwestern Ohio when 16 people died at the Mercy West Park nursing home in Cincinnati. But until the Cincinnati Enquirer reviewed the state inspection report, the public did not know about it. A Cincinnati Health Department spokeswoman declined to comment when asked how he had responded to his death in West Park.

Public health officials often suffer from privacy concerns and are therefore reluctant to publish information about an outbreak in a particular location because they can identify an individual. Investigators claimed earlier this month that the general public had the right to learn more about deaths in more than 2,500 nursing homes in Ohio, appealing for more information on deaths and other records. ..

Although some information about the spread of this disease in nursing homes and other nursing homes will eventually be made publicly available, it is not easy to find.

The Ohio Department of Health reports weekly updates on COVID-19 cases in nursing homes and nursing homes, but deaths are reported only by the county. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services maintains a national database of cases and deaths in nursing homes, but does not track deaths in other nursing homes, such as assisted living centres.

Also, some nursing homes did not have to report deaths before May, so some of the available data is incomplete. For example, a national database shows 13 deaths at Mercy West Park instead of 16. Federal data have missed deaths in at least three nursing homes in Hamilton County because of the loopholes.

Local health authorities are not required to publicly report outbreaks and deaths, but doing so is not prohibited. In July, the Licking County Department of Health publicly announced an outbreak when dozens of residents of the Newark Nursing Home fell ill at COVID-19 in July.

Hamilton County Department of Health spokesman Mike Samet said health officials are encouraging the facility to be as open as possible for the outbreak. He said a public notice might be considered to warn potentially exposed persons if the facility or establishment was uncooperative during the outbreak.

“We highly recommend transparency,” Samet said.