New Jersey Investigates Its Nursing Homes, Hotbed of COVID-19 Fatalities [NPR]
It has been reported that 53% of the more than 9,000 people who have died from COVID-19 in New Jersey were long-term care patients or staff.
Heard on All Things Considered
Content Reported by Maureen Pao and Ailsa Chang
Image taken by Ted Shaffrey from Associated Press
Published May 11, 2020
High infection and death rates, as well as other issues, have prompted New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to investigate potential misconduct in these facilities. Grewal stated that: "It was also the reporting that we were seeing and hearing about how bodies were being handled, about the lack of communication and transparency with families… Because of all of those reasons, we felt an obligation to look for answers and to figure out if something went wrong, what happened, and if there are people to be held accountable, who those people are."
Grewal underscored the importance of mapping out a plan that will protect vulnerable populations both inside and outside of nursing home facilities against upcoming waves of the coronavirus and future pandemics.