That death toll has since crossed 100,000.
Heres the story of what happened this past spring, in the words of those who were there.
The headline hinted at the chaos to come:First COVID-19 Outbreak in a U.S. Whatever this wretched plague was,nursing homeswould soon bear the brunt of its impact.
Nearly 264,000 people were infected across 9,912 facilities.
The number has changed little since.
But make no mistake:COVID-19wasnt vanquished from nursing homes in June.
It sounded like you could get it if you traveled to China.
I wasnt worried about it.
That was right when everyone around her started getting sick.
Life Care resident Geneva Wood:My roommate was coughing.
Everybody was saying bronchitis.
Then I got a cough and couldhardly breathe.
Thought it was pneumonia.
I remember them saying I had a 102 fever.
I guess I didnt know enough to be scared.
Life Care VP Butner:We had no idea how bad things were.
Wed seen flus before.
Our nurses were listening for a labored dry cough and breathing problems.
What we didnt understand was how many people were asymptomatic.
Nurse: Shes running a temp.
We think she, um…. We were very concerned.
Cami Neidigh:Mom got better, thankfully.
Shes a tough old Texas broad.
But Moms roommate didnt make it.
Geneva Wood:It was a lot of prayer and potato soup.
Thats all I could eat.
Days later, tests confirmed that two other residents had died of the virus on Feb. 26.
Life Care VP Butner:Night shift was the worst.
Thats when patients would decline.
The emotion was like a bomb going off in your nursing home.
Wed cared for these patients for years, and all we could do was pick up the pieces.
Spokesman Killian:We had 20 news trucks in our parking lot.
Everybody was pointing fingers and laying blame, looking for what we did wrong.
Meanwhile, this thing was spreading.
My CNAs around the country were worried.
The virus was popping up in Michigan, in New York.
Are we in danger?
Should we go in to work tonight?
Tell us if its safe.
Is this a hoax?
Where can we can find PPE [personal protective equipment]?
No one was even talking about testing.
So many of the cases were nursing home residents and staff.
CMS' Verma:The vice president asked me to join the coronavirus task force.
We had geriatricians, surgeons, infectious disease doctors working day and night to put guidelines together.
For me this was a life-and-death issue.
We knew every single day could make a difference.
And keep in mind, nursing homes were only one piece of it.
The CMS has jurisdiction over the entire health care system.
Hospitals were seen as the epicenter of the crisis but the epicenter of deaths was nursing homes.
Theyd go home and sew buttons on homemade face shields.
They just werent getting the equipment.
