Low Wages Make Nursing Homes a Hotbed for Covid-19
Workers at long-term-care facilities often hold several jobs to make ends meet — and that’s a problem.
Doing the hard work.
Photographer: Oscar Del Pozo/AFP/Getty Images
Residents of nursing homes or similar facilities account for at least one-quarter of U.S. deaths from Covid-19. The true figure might be a lot higher. The coronavirus has spread to nearly 7,000 nursing homes in all 50 states. In at least seven — Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia — more than half of all Covid-19 deaths took place in long-term-care facilities. No part of the country has been spared.
The coronavirus has hit nursing homes hard for several reasons. Older people are more susceptible to Covid-19; viruses spread quickly in crowded, closed environments; and, importantly, many facilities still lack tests and personal protective equipment for their employees. But one factor has received too little attention: Low-paid care workers often take jobs at multiple facilities to make ends meet — and can then spread the virus from one to another.