More than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred in U.S. nursing homes during a four-week period ending Sept. 19, nearly double the number of deaths compared to the four weeks prior, an Oct. 14 analysis of government data from the American Association of Retired Persons found.
The rate of resident deaths nearly doubled, from one in 1,000 residents for the four weeks ending Aug. 22 to one in 520 residents for the four weeks ending Sept. 19.
While the COVID-19 death toll during the roughly one-month period ending in mid-September is about one-tenth what it was during last winter's peak, it still represents the highest four-week total since March, the analysis notes.
The nursing home death rate hit a pandemic low of about one in every 3,000 residents in July.
From the four-week period ending Aug. 22 to the latest analysis period, new infections among residents also rose about 50 percent, topping 20,000 for the four-week period ending Sept. 19.
Since the start of the pandemic, it's estimated that more than 150,000 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19, representing more than one-fifth of the country's pandemic death toll, according to the AARP analysis.
About 85 percent of U.S. nursing home residents were fully vaccinated as of Sept. 19. The same was true for 67 percent of the country's nursing home employees.
To view the full findings, click here.