Number of Texas Nursing Homes With COVID Cases Rises Almost 800 Percent in Past Month

The number of nursing homes in Texas with active cases of COVID-19 has surged dramatically over the past month, as the southwestern state continues to have the second-highest amount of new daily infections in the country.

The Texas Tribune reported on Friday that the number of Texas nursing homes with at least one active infection of COVID-19 has risen by almost 800 percent. Meanwhile, the southwestern state ranks 46th nationwide for its rate of vaccinated nursing home residents. When it comes to vaccinated nursing home staff, Texas ranks 33rd compared to all other states.

In mid-July, Texas had just 56 nursing homes with at least one active COVID-19 infection, the Tribune reported. As of August 11, that number jumped to 489—or an increase of 773 percent. However, the number is still much lower than January when more than 900 nursing home facilities had COVID-19 infections.

Nursing home deaths have jumped substantially as well. While just seven nursing home residents died of COVID-19 in the four weeks prior to July 21, more than 80 died from the novel coronavirus in the weeks after that until August 11. About 76 percent of nursing home residents are vaccinated in Texas, which is somewhat below the national average of 82 percent. When it comes to nursing home staff, just 56 percent have been fully vaccinated.

"We believe that the spread is caused by the unvaccinated staff members," Annaliese Impink, executive vice president and spokesperson for Retama Manor Nursing Center, told The Texas Tribune. She pointed out that her facilities' "residents are in our center and don't often go out, and our vaccination rates in our centers are pretty good."

"So, you just have to surmise that it's primarily coming in from unvaccinated staff members," Impink said.

State health officials eased restrictions regarding visitors to nursing homes in Texas back in March. The new rules allowed for fully-vaccinated nursing home residents to receive family members—as long as the specific facility permitted—after a year of isolation. Like in many other states, nursing homes were hit hard by the pandemic in Texas.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission reported that more than 9,000 nursing home residents have died in the state since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That's approximately 17 percent of Texas' total of more than 54,000 COVID-19 deaths.

As of Friday, Texas had an average of nearly 14,000 new daily COVID-19 infections, according to The New York Times' tracker. The state ranks only behind Florida when it comes to new daily infections. Over the past 14 days, cases in Texas have surged by nearly 60 percent, while hospitalizations have increased by 86 percent. Currently more than 10,100 Texans are hospitalized with the novel virus and the number of daily average deaths hovers just below 90.

Newsweek reached out to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for comment but did not immediately receive a response.