According to AARP Wisconsin's COVID-19 Dashboard, cases and deaths in Wisconsin nursing homes are trending downward.
AARP reports that the deaths of nursing home residents are less than half of what they were in the previous four weeks, dropping from a rate of 1.36 per 100 residents to 0.5.
COVID-19 cases have declined as well, dropping from 5.1 per 100 residents to 1.5.
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"Decreasing numbers and vaccine rollout give hope, but we should not lose sight of the chronic, ongoing problems in our long-term care system that were exposed by COVID,” said AARP Wisconsin State Director Sam Wilson.
Although deaths and cases are going down, AARP says shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) remain a big challenge for staff.
Staffing shortages are also a problem but are improving with 38.8 percent of facilities reporting a shortage in the most recent dashboard, which is down slightly from 39.7 from the previous weeks.
“The dashboard data over the last two months of 2020 painted a very dire picture for our nursing homes in Wisconsin, with accelerating numbers of cases and deaths throughout the state,” Wilson said. “At that time, we pleaded with everyone in our communities to redouble our health and safety efforts and prioritize the vaccination process for our vulnerable nursing home residents. Today’s nursing home dashboard release is proof positive that combination is working and working in a big way in Wisconsin.”