Nursing Home Residents Continue To Suffer From COVID-19 As Gov. Whitmer’s Task Force Report Faces Deadline Nursing Home Residents Continue To Suffer From COVID-19 As Gov. Whitmer's Task Force Report Faces Deadline - Michigan Rising Action

Nursing Home Residents Continue To Suffer From COVID-19 As Gov. Whitmer’s Task Force Report Faces Deadline

Nursing Home Residents Continue To Suffer From COVID-19 As Gov. Whitmer’s Task Force Report Faces Deadline

It’s past time for Gov. Whitmer to make protecting seniors who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 a priority.

August 31, 2020

On June 26, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed executive order 2020-135, creating a Michigan Nursing Homes COVID-19 Preparedness Task Force and directing it to produce a recommendation to the governor for an action plan on how to prepare nursing homes for COVID-19 cases by August 31, 2020. 

While Michiganders have been awaiting a plan to protect vulnerable seniors from COVID-19, nursing homes and long-term care facilities have been the most frequent setting for outbreaks. A Detroit News Editorial from Sunday explains:

“Long-term care facilities lead the state in new and ongoing outbreaks. Over a seven-week period between July 2 and Aug. 20, there were 134 outbreaks in these facilities, 23% of the state’s overall outbreaks. Michigan’s top doctor, Joneigh Khaldun, has repeatedly made clear that long-term care facilities are one of the “most frequent settings” for new outbreaks.”

Whitmer’s administration has known for months that nursing homes and long-term care facilities account for the majority of COVID outbreaks in the state and yet hasn’t taken appropriate action to protect Michigan’s seniors. It’s past time for Gov. Whitmer to make protecting seniors who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 a priority. – Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action

Stay up to date