Take-Aways from Updated MDH 5-Point LTC COVID-19 Battle Plan

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Kari Thurlow

On Friday, the Minnesota Department of Health released its Long-term Care COVID-19 Response: November 2020 Update and provided some updates regarding benchmarks with respect to how COVID-19 is impacting senior care providers and the people they serve.

Here are a few takeaways from the data provided:

Almost no nursing home has remained unaffected by the virus. As of November 8^th, only 8% of Minnesota’s 368 nursing homes have never reported a case. Most nursing homes (53%) currently have an active outbreak. At the same time, most assisted living settings (60%) have never reported a case. Currently, MDH reports that 10% of assisted living settings have an active outbreak. LeadingAge MN staff suspect this may have to do with differences in testing approaches between assisted living and nursing home settings. 

While case counts remain high, death rates in senior care settings have dropped significantly. Recently COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities have been increasing rapidly, almost reaching the previous high reached in late May. In the meantime, deaths due to COVID in LTC sites have dropped dramatically since May and are now at less than half the death rate at the high point.

Healthcare staff are safer from virus exposure at work than in the community. For staff, more than a third of higher-risk exposures to a person with confirmed COVID-19 occurred outside of direct patient care—they occurred in their homes and communities. The MDH report confirms what we already knew, as community transmission increases, health care personnel are at higher risk. MDH reported that in September, 62% of higher-risk exposures happened in household or social settings.

Community spread is jeopardizing infection control safeguards. The good news is that senior care providers have a lot to be proud of, as they have held case counts steady for some time. The bad news is that as community spread increases uncontrollably, senior care settings remain vulnerable.

Click here to view the Covid Cases Comparison Graph

MDH continues to partner to address emergency staffing issues, but more needs to be done. The SEOC has made significant progress in developing tools and assistance to help providers with emergency staffing needs. Through the use of scheduling software and National Guard resources, SEOC resources have proved significant during a staffing crisis. The report also highlights the DHS staffing pool that was launched in September. As of November 2, there are less than 100 total staff approved to work in that pool, as DHS struggles to recruit staff. LeadingAge MN continues to make this a focal point of our discussions with state agencies, as we advocate for a more streamlined and coordinated approach to workforce needs and emergency staffing issues.