Dear Neighbor,
Wednesday night, after weeks of advocacy, the administration released information about the number of deaths in each nursing home, as well as a lot of other important data. The Herald and Globe reported on the release, noting that 80 nursing homes have more than 20 deaths each and that 62% of deaths in the states have been in nursing homes.
NEW REPORTS
 The reports are fascinating and useful. You can look up how many deaths there were at a particular nursing home, as well as whether they tested 90% of their staff and residents, and whether they were in adherence to required infection control standards. For correctional institutions, you can see the number of positive cases among staff and inmates.
You can find the reports here. Download daily reports about the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths state-wide, per county, by age and by race/ethnicity over time. Download weekly public health reports about the number of deaths for each long-term care facility and the number of positive cases among staff and inmates at each Department of Correction (DOC) facility. The weekly reports also include information on whether nursing facilities complied with the requirement to test 90% of staff and residents, and the result of audits, showing whether each facility was in adherence to standards of infection control.
This site reports on state operated sites like the Soldiers Homes and State Hospitals, and congregate sites such as those for DDS, DMH, DYS, and others. It also includes DOC.
WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG?
We have known from the beginning that nursing homes would be hard hit by coronavirus. Among other things, the fact that they were centers of infection in Washington earlier should have been a warning. As we heard of alarming numbers of cases, legislators began calling for more information about outbreaks. Yet until yesterday, the administration refused to post data that they had, and the public wanted.
 I talked to Boston 25 News Thursday about our frustration about how long it took to get specific information released. Reporter Kerry Kavanaugh told about a woman whose mother died after contracting the disease in a Weymouth nursing home, who couldn't find out about what was happening in the home.
MetroWest Daily News and the Patriot Ledger were among many others that reported on why the information is necessary, along with my comments. The Globe editorialized in favor of more transparency.
 The Elder Affairs Committee, which I chair with Rep. Ruth Balser, held a hearing and reported a bill requiring public reporting on cases and deaths in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and senior housing complexes. A separate bill has been redrafted to include those provisions, plus reporting separately on staff and residents, and demographic data. It also requires nursing homes to inform patients and their representatives of new deaths and cases, and requires reporting on congregate housing, prisons and jails. And it establishes a task force to examine health disparities for underserved or underrepresented populations.
That bill received final passage in both houses yesterday, and is before the governor.
Meanwhile, the federal government will be posting case and death information for every nursing home in the country very soon.
Legislative action, requests by legislators, media reports, and impending federal action finally led to more reporting on important data, but there's still missing information.
STILL MISSING:
Among the data still missing on the state reports:
- infections and deaths among staff in nursing homes
- actual number (not range) of infections in nursing homes
- data on individual assisted living residences, rest homes
- information about senior housing (not currently reported to state)
- information about county jails and houses of correction (not currently reported to state)
- information on other congregate housing, like shelters
WHY DOES DATA MATTER?
The administration knew from the beginning that nursing homes were experiencing outbreaks. There were alarming reports about individual nursing homes, and I reported in an April newsletter that over half the Massachusetts deaths were in those homes. But for weeks, the administration did not take the actions that nursing home leaders and legislators urgently requested, particularly to supply more staffing. When they finally acted, the actions were very comprehensive, as I reported in a newsletter April 30.
The DOC numbers are important. There are some facilities, and some units, with zero cases in staff or incarcerated people. There is no reason there to continue the two-month-long lockdown in those units, with very little time out of cells to shower, make phone calls and use microwaves to heat up the cold meals.
Just yesterday, we learned of outbreaks in shelters for people experiencing homelessness: 35% infection rate at Pine Street Inn, and even higher rates in other shelters. But that information did not come from the administration. Immediately, legislators organized letters asking the administration to apply for FEMA authorization to provide non-congregate housing (like motels) for people in shelters - before an approaching deadline. That information was not reported publicly, but we learned it from housing advocates.
I'll have more soon, but I know many of you have been concerned about people in elder care facilities and about transparency.
Stay safe, and stay in touch,
 
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