In an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes, Connecticut has taken an unlikely approach of opening a COVID-19 only nursing home
- Connecticut opens COVID-19 only nursing homes in hopes of limiting the spread of the coronavirus which has already killed more than 1,600 nursing home residents in the state, NBC News reported.
- The facilities would be for residents that can't be safely isolated in their current facility or for residents released from a hospital after receiving COVID-19 treatment.
- One of the facilities is a former nursing home building that was shut down in November.
- However, residents in two nursing homes were moved to create other facilities.
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Connecticut has opened a COVID-19 only nursing homes, as the state battles a growing number of deaths in long-term care facilities, NBC News reported.
According to local outlet the CT Mirror, more than 1,600 nursing home residents have died from the coronavirus in the state. That's more than half of the states over 3,000 deaths.
At least 159 of the 213 nursing homes in the state have reported coronavirus cases. There have been deaths in 146 of those facilities, according to NBC News.
The Mirror reported that the infection rate will most likely skyrocket after facilities begin widespread testing all residents.
According to NBC News, the separate facilities dedicated to only residents with COVID-19 is meant to help stop the spread of the virus.
"This is really the safest approach," David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School told NBC News.
The new centers will be for residents who are released from the hospital after receiving treatment for COVID-19 and also for patients in nursing homes who can't be safely isolated from other residents, NBC News reported.
There are currently five centers, including the Westfield Specialty Care Center, which was a former nursing home that shut down in November.
The Westfield Specialty Care Center has 90 beds and accepted its first patient earlier this month.
"You're not displacing existing residents by moving nursing home residents out of a building to create a COVID-specialized facility," Grabowski told NBC News. "You have adequate infection control and personal protective equipment. This is really what we want to see in terms of a specialized COVID facility, and this is really what many clinical leaders and what many nursing home leaders around the country are calling for."
The state, however, was not able to find empty facilities for the rest of the centers. Officials instead relocated residents from two homes that were turned into these coronavirus only facilities.
Nursing homes are not only hotspots across the country, but they are often overlooked when it comes to funding, Grabowski said to NBC News.
"Connecticut deserves a lot of credit," Grabowski told NBC News. "They're testing everyone — staff and residents — they're providing personal protective equipment for the staff and then finally creating these specialized COVID facilities."