(RepublicanReport.com) – With over 12 million confirmed cases as of Friday, November 20, COVID-19 is officially the worst pandemic of our lifetimes.
We hear startling statistics like this about the virus every day. However, they don’t tell us the whole story. While the deaths and illnesses resulting from COVID-19 are indeed tragic, they can deflect attention from other things occurring at the same time.
Perhaps the best example of such an issue is the epidemic of neglect currently sweeping our nursing homes. Over 97,000 COVID-19 patients have died in American care homes since March, but there are reports that thousands more have died avoidable deaths from other causes during that time. The demands the pandemic has placed on resources have left many facilities unable to cope.
There are reports of elderly residents left unfed, or sitting in their own waste, for long periods. There have been deaths from starvation and sepsis, as well as a “failure to thrive” brought on by the mental distress accompanying isolation.
Nursing home watchdogs are receiving reports of residents allowed to wither in starvation or thirst, left in soiled diapers or with bedsores. Some cut off from family have given up on living, victims of what death certificates call “failure to thrive.” https://t.co/9PF2FAyItr
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 19, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on our nursing homes, and the picture we see is not an attractive one. This is an area that requires major attention once the pandemic is over.
Copyright 2020, RepublicanReport.com
