How Does COVID-19 Spread To Nursing Homes During Lock Down?

By Bente Bouthier

(Seth Tackett, WFIU/WTIU News)

Since early March, long term care facilities have barred visitors from coming in to prevent spread of COVID-19 to residents.

Many facilities have tried to use FaceTime and phone calls so residents can keep in touch with their family and friends. Some have allowed window visits, so residents get to see people face-to-face, rather than through a screen.

But despite efforts to keep nursing homes contained, over 1,000 nursing home residents have died from the virus in Indiana. 

A City Limits reader wanted to know how COVID-19 can spread so quickly in nursing homes when many of the residents don’t get out much. 

Lynn Clough, the state’s long-term care ombudsman, says it’s true, a lot of residents don’t leave the facilities, but others can be transported in and out several times a week to receive medical treatment. 

She says one example is dialysis patients, who have to leave and get treatment three times a week. 

“Or sometimes residents become ill and have to be transported to the hospital,” Clough says.

Staff who go home at night and come back to work the next day also opens up risk for spread of the virus, she says.

Everyone is trained on careful handwashing techniques and protocol to avoid spreading germs, but these precautions aren’t foolproof.

So long as people are coming in and out of a facility, she says there is no guarantee that COVID-19 won’t infect a resident because you can’t control everyone you come into contact with in public. 

The state issued new guidelines last week, which now allow residents to have outdoor visitation with their loved ones and friends. 

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How Does COVID-19 Spread To Nursing Homes During Lock Down?