Nursing home with the biggest cluster
of covid-19 deaths to date in the U.S.
thought it was facing an influenza outbreak,
a spokesman says
Washington Post,
by
Jon Swaine
&
Maria Sacchetti
Original Article
Posted By: earlybird,
3/17/2020 5:01:46 PM
A nasty respiratory illness had been spreading through the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., for at least nine days when a sick resident was taken to a hospital on Feb. 19.
The resident, and another hospitalized Feb. 24, were later diagnosed with covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, according to the facility. They were two of the earliest cases in the country’s deadliest cluster to date in the pandemic.
But the home’s managers had believed since early February that they were facing a surge of influenza, which was common for the facility, said a spokesman for the Life Care Center.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
PlayItAgain 3/17/2020 5:13:39 PM (No. 349252)
From what I have gathered the flu has killed more people, including children, than Corona virus.
I believe that no children have died from Corona virus while almost 100 children have died from the flu.
9 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Pete Stone 3/17/2020 5:29:10 PM (No. 349270)
#1: True.
And nursing homes -- even the best ones -- are prime territory for illness to spread anyway.
10 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
greggojo 3/17/2020 5:34:40 PM (No. 349277)
The nursing home apparently should have reported the two cases of respiratory illness to the county within a day of when the two cases emerged. I am so sorry that these older people died, but no one knew what was going on, there is still no treatment for coronavirus, so it's not clear that those infected would have been saved had they been diagnosed earlier (otoh, contagion could have been controlled) Also, I don't think it's helpful to point fingers and blame one another, but it would be helpful to learn from what has been a tragedy. Additionally, while this could change at any time, I really don't understand the articles that suggest that coronavirus related deaths in America could reach more than a million. If that were so, why haven't many more people died in China? The numbers, at least for now, make no sense to me.
13 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
ARKfamily 3/17/2020 5:34:53 PM (No. 349278)
Yet, no one did anything about it in January. The only thing the Democrats did was criticize Donald Trump for the travel ban. They were pulling a bill together to stop it. Can you imagine if the Democrats had gotten their way?
12 people like this.
Key parts of this article are what they thought it was, for many weeks, and what dates they sent patients to the hospital (Feb 19 and 24).
Feb 24 almost seems like a lifetime ago now, right?
Keep this in mind when you hear Democrats, in particular, trying to blame Trump for not acting fast enough, when it was Trump who was criticized by those same Democrats for placing the China travel ban on Jan 30 or 31.
And, the CDC didn't allow for private labs to begin looking for a test until March 2nd, the day before Super Tuesday.
We are only 2 weeks after that CDC (people looking for the gov't to be in charge) authorization.
It also looks to be private labs who are now making the quickest progress.
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
DVC 3/17/2020 5:44:59 PM (No. 349289)
#5, as usual, getting the bureaucrats out of the way is the biggest obstacle in any crisis.
13 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
voxpopuli 3/17/2020 6:15:11 PM (No. 349317)
Washington! again!!
someone told me today that the largest population
of CHINESE in the country is in WASHINGTON
(from the Federalist..)
7 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Rather Read 3/17/2020 6:34:40 PM (No. 349326)
My mother got the flu when she was in the nursing home. They got her to the hospital and when she came back took very good care of her. Flu can spread so quickly.
10 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
walcb 3/17/2020 7:07:57 PM (No. 349342)
Even if it was the flu and not Wuhan the response to the illnesses was poor.
7 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Winstonian 3/17/2020 7:13:32 PM (No. 349346)
I’ve been If Coronavirus was showing up earlier in the US population but was treated as flu even if a flu test came back negative.
1 person likes this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
MDConservative 3/17/2020 7:33:57 PM (No. 349370)
Old people die...of the flu. pneumonia, coronavirus, and all sorts of other infectious diseases. Sounds callous. It's a simple fact. The viral infection has no cure. The danger is compounded by compromised immune systems and secondary illness.
3 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Donna M 3/17/2020 7:49:27 PM (No. 349379)
If that was the nursing home's typical response to an outbreak of flu, you have to wonder what their quality scores are and how they even stay in business. Neglectful at best.
2 people like this.
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