Casper nursing home deaths rise; more than 50 people in long-term care have died from COVID

Casper nursing home deaths rise; more than 50 people in long-term care have died from COVID
 
By Morgan Hughes
Casper Star-Tribune
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
CASPER —  More than 50 residents at long-term care facilities in Casper have died from COVID-19, the Casper-Natrona County Health Department confirmed Wednesday. 
Fifty deaths alone have been recorded between just two facilities in Casper: Casper Mountain Rehabilitation and Care Center and Shepherd of the Valley Rehabilitation and Wellness. 
As of Nov. 19, 25 residents at those facilities had died after contracting the respiratory disease, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. That data is the most recent provided by the state health department. 
At that time, 56 residents at long-term care facilities throughout the state had died from the virus, with Casper Mountain Rehab and Shepherd of the Valley accounting for the two highest death tolls in the state. 
The state health department has confirmed 45 resident deaths of coronavirus patients in Natrona County, but the number will likely increase. 
County health department spokeswoman Hailey Bloom said not all of the roughly 50 deaths between the two facilities had been certified with vital statistics. 
The state doesn’t add a person to the official death count until that happens. That means the 45 Natrona County deaths listed with the state does not include everyone who’s dead here from the disease. 
Natrona County has the highest virus death toll of any county in Wyoming. Residents and staff at long-term care facilities have borne a heavy share of the nation’s coronavirus-related deaths, representing 40% of all COVID-19 fatalities in the U.S., according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 
Communities in Wyoming have not been spared from this trend. 
Since the pandemic started sweeping through the country, over one-third of Wyoming nursing homes have had confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to analysis released last month by the AARP Public Policy Institute. 
Long-term care facilities have been so heavily impacted by the virus’s surge nationwide that residents at such facilities will likely be among the first to receive a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available. 
A panel of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Tuesday that residents of such facilities, along with front-line health care workers, be the first to receive emergency doses of a COVID-19 vaccine that could be ready by the end of this year. 
Wyoming, too, has prioritized nursing home residents and health care workers in its draft vaccine distribution plan, published in mid-October and updated Nov. 25.