(INDIANAPOLIS) – Indiana is ramping up efforts to protect residents of longterm care facilities from coronavirus.
Indiana has had 31 coronavirus deaths in longterm care facilities — 70% of those are in just four
homes. The Family and Social Services Administration says it’s working on guidelines to set up dedicated facilities for coronavirus patients.
FSSA chief medical officer Dan Rusyniak says there needs to be a place for patients who aren’t sick
enough to take up beds in a hospital, but run a risk of infecting other residents if they stay where they are. He says nursing homes and other longterm facilities need to communicate with local health departments and hospitals, so hospitals know what to expect, and know there’s a medical “halfway house” where they can safely send patients.
Rusyniak says longterm facilities are “a perfect storm” for contagion, because they have large numbers of people in close quarters, usually with underlying health problems.
The Indiana State Department of Health is ordering nursing homes, group homes, and prisons to report any virus cases or deaths within 24 hours, whether it’s a resident or an employee. The department is already sending “strike teams” into homes which report suspected virus infections, to perform testing and advise administrators on how to keep the outbreak under control.
The 31 deaths in longterm facilities represent 15% of Indiana’s 203 coronavirus deaths.
