Today we know a lot more about COVID-19 than we did before the outbreak first occurred in China’s Wuhan Province. Unfortunately, those who make the policies for our states, do not always get their information from the right sources.

We’ve known since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in America that the elderly were most at risk, especially those living in nursing homes and long term care facilities. We’ve known this about the coronavirus because on March 17 Stanford epidemiologist, John Ioannidis, warned the American public that “…even some mild or common-cold-like coronaviruses have been known for decades [to] have case fatality rates as high as 8 percent when they affect people in nursing homes.”

Dr. Ioannidis’s statement has since been confirmed by the data we now have about the coronavirus. Here in the United States, the problem has been greatest in our nursing homes and in our long term care facilities. In Minnesota, for example, 81 percent of all COVID-19 deaths have occurred in nursing homes and long term care facilities. In Ohio the number is 70 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, and in Pennsylvania it is 69 percent. Here in Nebraska, 55 percent of all COVID-19 deaths have occurred in nursing homes and long term care facilities.

On the national level, an average of 43 percent of all COVID-19 deaths have occurred in nursing homes and long term care facilities. So, it can be safely said that 43 percent of all COVID-19 deaths occur in facilities which house only 0.62 percent of the American population.

Therefore, America does not have a COVID-19 problem; instead, we have a nursing home problem. Because the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths occur in nursing homes and long term care facilities, I believe it is time for us to start taking the care of our elders a lot more seriously. Moreover, there is no reason to lockdown society any longer. The COVID-19 fatality rate for those under age 65 in the USA is no different than the seasonal flu.

Nebraska needs to adopt policies that are similar to Florida’s. Whereas many states have required their nursing homes and long term care facilities to accept COVID-19 patients, Florida has not. Instead, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order on March 15 prohibiting nursing homes and other long term care facilities from accepting COVID-19 patients. The head of Florida’s agency for Healthcare Administration said at the time, “I understand that for 20 years it’s been ingrained, especially through Medicare reimbursement policy, to get individuals in and out [of hospitals]. That is not our focus today. I’m not going to send anyone back to a nursing home who has the slightest risk of being positive…”

In Florida all healthcare workers are required to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms before entering a nursing home or other long term care facility. Florida also prioritized personal protective equipment for their nursing homes and long term care facilities early on, and the result has been that Florida’s COVID-19 death rate has paled in comparison to other states. The COVID-19 death rate in Florida is currently 4 percent compared to the national average of almost 6 percent.

While Nebraska currently enjoys a very low COVID-19 death rate, we share many of the same bad policies as New York and New Jersey, which have accelerated their death rates above 6.5 percent. New Jersey’s COVID-19 death rate is 7.2 percent. Unless we begin to care for our elderly in a similar way as Florida, we could see our COVID-19 death rate begin to accelerate. Therefore, Nebraska needs to prohibit hospitals from sending patients back to these kinds of facilities before self-isolating for 14 days.

Sen. Halloran of Hastings has drafted a letter to Gov. Ricketts which I have co-signed. That letter asks the Governor to create a new policy to protect our most vulnerable citizens by requiring those residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 to be quarantined at another location before returning to a nursing home or long term care facility. Our hospitals are not being overwhelmed, but our nursing homes and long term care facilities are being overwhelmed. Nebraska’s elderly are not expendable, and our state’s COVID-19 policies should reflect how much we care about them!