Nursing homes in Maryland are seeing another rise in coronavirus cases — and that means that facilities are having to suspend visits from loved ones.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that the halt to visitations has led to a new wave of despair in facilities that were struck hard by COVID-19. The impact of loneliness on the health of the elderly has been extreme.
Maryland has 227 nursing homes. Gov. Larry Hogan had ordered that all nursing home employees have had at least one vaccine dose by last week. Facilities that fail to comply will be subject to fines.
The percentage of employees who have received a vaccine dose is 82%. At the same time, nearly 90% of all nursing home residents have had at least one vaccine dose, and 86.1% are fully vaccinated.
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Meanwhile, outbreaks are rising in Maryland's nursing homes. Outbreaks are defined by the federal government as at least one COVID-19 case. In July, fewer than 10 facilities had an outbreak. But by early August, there were 33. On Friday, there were 92.
