Latest CMS, CDC and NHSN COVID-19 Nursing Home Data

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP
Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare

CMS has posted COVID-19 nursing home data for the week ending May 8, 2022.

Comparing the May 8^th data to the previous May 1^st data shows these changes:

Resident vaccination rate again remained the same as the 2 previous weeks
Residents with booster doses increased by 0.2% again this past week
Staff vaccination rate increased 0.1% from the previous week
Staff with booster doses increased by 0.4% this past week
An additional 7,595 resident cases were confirmed/reported this week (almost doubled – again – from previous week)
343 additional resident deaths were confirmed/reported this week – another increase
An additional 7,262 staff cases were confirmed/reported this week (the case rate is increasing again)
An additional 11 staff deaths were confirmed/reported this week

Please keep up your efforts to educate staff, residents and families about the life-saving benefits of vaccination as well as the importance of getting the booster. Lives depend on both.

Cases are rising again due to the omicron variant BA.2 and there’s also another subvariant detected as of late April/early May – BA.2.12.1. Additionally, there are more variants out there and the variants are on the rise – BA.4 and BA.5. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is not done with us yet.

Be sure to review your facility’s vaccination rates on the list of every nursing home with recent resident and staff vaccination rates and other pertinent data as this data will be used for completing the COVID-19 Matrix during survey. State surveyors look at this data in preparation for your survey. You’ll also need to know your current rate (as reported to NHSN) and provide it to the survey team entering your facility. This data is current as of the week ending May 8, 2022.

The CDC COVID Data Tracker shows these current community transmission levels:

The above graphics show that Community Transmission continues to rise. The week ending May 8, 2022 shows that 56.61% of the counties in the U.S. are now/again at high levels of transmission – a 12.01% change. The week ending May 1, 2022 saw a 10.92% change with the week ending April 24, 2022 a 7.32% change; the week ending April 17, 2022 saw a 6.16% change and the week ending April 10, 2022 a 6.16% change. More counties in the red. Not a good sign! We’re going in the wrong direction – again. This is also borne out by the United States At a Glance – cases and hospitalizations are on the increase.