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Ethnic Media Services: Online Briefing For Ethnic Media

Eight out of 10 COVID-related deaths in the U.S. have been in adults 65 years old and older,

reports the Centers for Disease Control. Up to 70 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations

are of people aged 85 or older in certain communities. 

Dr. Tung Nguyen, Professor in the Health Division of General Internal Medicine at

UCSF, gave a weekly update on the spread of COVID-19, with additional data on

impact to elderly people.

As of June 11, there are 7.3 million people diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide and over 400,00 deaths. In the United States, we are at over 2 million infections and 113,00 deaths. 

Many people are treating the pandemic less seriously than before. 

10% of the total amount of cases happened in just the last week. 

Experts say to look at the percentage of positive tests and hospitalizations of COVID to get an accurate view of cases. Some states are having a problem with hospital capacity to take care of people who may be infected and increasing numbers. 

The relaxed stay-at-home orders, decreased social distancing and inadequate use of masks are most likely the causes of increased numbers of infections, Dr. Nguyen said. 

As far as older adults, they are more at risk for infection and death because older age and other chronic health problems are independent risk factors. 

We also know that public health approaches like social distancing leads to isolation which is more toxic for older adults who need help and suffer from loneliness. 

Over 210,000 cases and 43,000 deaths occurred in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.  

One-fifth of nursing homes reported they have less than a one week supply of personal protective equipment due to delays in delivery of supplies promised by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Nguyen.

 “Nursing homes have really been the center of the pandemic,” said Dr. Tung Nguyen, a professor of internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

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Dr. Tung Nguyen, Professor in the Health Division of General Internal Medicine at

UCSF

Dr. Charlene Harrington, gerontologist and professor of sociology and nursing at the

University of California San Francisco, discussed the impact of COVID on elderly

people living in nursing homes.

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Dr. Charlene Harrington, gerontologist and professor of sociology and nursing at the

University of California San Francisco

Nursing homes are facilities that are able to take Medicare and other payments to be able to operate. Assisted living facilities do not have to have registered nurses and they are even less able to deal with an outbreak. The government has not ordered reporting  in assisted living facilities. 

Nursing home residents represent 06 percent of the U.S. population but made up more than 43,000 deaths and 210,000 infections, accounting for about 40 percent of all COVID-related deaths.

“Before the virus hit, three-fourths of all the nursing homes in the U.S. had inadequate registered nurse staffing levels, and 63 percent had infection control violations. So then when the virus hit, it definitely has spread like wildfire through nursing homes,” Dr. Harrington said.

“We have a new study that has just been finished for California of nursing homes that were most likely to get the COVID virus and we found that if they had low registered nurse staffing, they were twice as likely to get the virus. And if they had low quality of care and they were large in size they were much more likely to get the virus. And once the virus in the facility it can facility because so many staff and residents are asymptomatic. We have had inadequate testing in nursing homes and we usually only had it with an outbreak. We should have tested all staff and residents.”

Also,the  infection and death rates were not reported accurately.  

“If you can take your family members home right now, that would be the best thing you could do,” said Dr. Harrington.

Harrington said she is opposed to the new policies by states which grant nursing homes immunity from COVID-related lawsuits. Mayor Newsom is also considering this legislation. “There’s definitely been negligence involved in many cases,” she said, citing inadequate staff, negligence, and low infection control. Many of the worst outbreaks have been in these nursing homes. 

She emphasized the importance of staff using masks and not spreading the virus. And the need for family members to be able to be back in the facilities.  

Dr. Farida Sohrabji, Regents Professor and Interim Head, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Texas A&M College of Medicine, discussed the molecular impacts of the virus and pandemic-related isolation on depression in elderly adults.

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Dr. Farida Sohrabji, Regents Professor and Interim Head, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Texas A&M College of Medicine

Dr. Sohrabji said the impacts of social isolation can be devastating in many ways. The idea that you can be worried about what form the illness might take and infecting other people. The problem is acute among elderly because they might be in nursing homes and because they are vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic, they were encouraged to isolate. Several studies have linked social isolation as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes. Social isolation also increases the symptoms of autoimmune diseases and has effects on mental health. 

Individuals who lived through these times have higher rates of anxiety and depression. 

The COVID-19 virus can also affect the brain and mood. The route that the virus enters the body is through the nose and which is somewhat exposed to the brain,  especially in a particular portion called the olfactory system, Now you have a virus that can affect the part of the brain related to depression. 

Like Harrington, Sohrabji also suggested trying to take elderly people out of situations where they are isolated and not with loved ones. . If they must remain there, she recommended engaging with them as much as possible, maybe through Zoom. And also encouraging movement, exercise, hydration, eating well and good hygiene.

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Dr. Fernando Torres-Gil, director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging at the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs

Dr. Fernando Torres-Gil, director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging at the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs, spoke about elderly people who are not in nursing homes and the factors that might contribute to their greater vulnerability, particularly for those who live in multi-generational households.

Torres-Gil, who serves on California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Master Plan for Aging advisory committee, said the group has been working to develop new care standards to ensure there is no discrimination based on age and disability.

The committee is also working on proposals that would allocate resources to services that enable elderly people to remain in their homes, rather than living in nursing homes.

Erika Hartman, Chief Program Officer for the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles, discussed the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on elderly, un-housed women. 

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Erika Hartman, Chief Program Officer for the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles

Harman said elderly homeless women have been hit hard by the COVID 19 pandemic. In recent months, there has been a 20 percent increase in the number of elderly homeless people, she said. 

There were people that were not able to shelter in place. They were not able to get food from resources they were able to get before. 

Under normal circumstances who are sheltered are housed more quickly. In this setting, there is a question of if exposure to violence is worse than exposure to possible infection. 

Hartman said that they have operated a bridge housing program where they have an open air space with 24 beds and they also have a project called Project 100 housing 100 women from skid row.