One of the earliest outbreaks of coronavirus in the United States happened in a nursing home in Washington state, where dozens of people died. Over 26,000 COVID-19 deaths can now be linked to long-term care facilities. Yet, we still don’t have numbers from the federal government tracking the outbreak in nursing homes.
In early April, NBC national investigative reporter Suzy Khimm and her reporting partner Laura Strickler began looking into the numbers themselves – reaching out to state health departments to understand the scope of the problem.
For Suzy, this assignment is personal: in March, her family received word that the virus had reached her father-in-law’s nursing home. On this episode of Into America, Trymaine Lee talks to Suzy about how that news propelled her reporting. They dive into the numbers, where things stand with federal tracking, and why data matters during a crisis.
Further Reading:
- Nursing homes overwhelmed by coronavirus: ‘It is impossible for us to stop the spread’
- New York will no longer require nursing homes to take COVID-19 patients from hospitals
- Connecticut launches bold new approach to virus crisis: COVID-19-only nursing homes
Find the transcript here.
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