More than three quarters of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Ohio have come from nursing homes. This week’s total is a 30 percent increase from a week ago. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports.
878 nursing home residents have died of COVID-19 since April 15. The state updates cases among residents and staff weekly, showing those by facility and totaling them. But the website’s page listing deaths only breaks them down by county, and doesn’t total them.
The Ohio Department of Health confirms there were 369 deaths in nursing homes before April 15, when the state started reporting deaths. So the total of COVID-19 deaths in Ohio nursing homes is 1,247, which is 79% of confirmed deaths.
DeWine didn’t address these numbers in his Thursday briefing, but has said a group of at least 10 Ohio National Guard units is being assembled to bring testing into nursing homes.