Nearly 200 nursing home facilities across Pennsylvania had at least five deaths from COVID-19, and seven of the 11 facilities with the most deaths are in southeastern Pennsylvania, new data shows.
The pandemic's deadly effects were widespread and deep in nursing homes, according to the data released Tuesday. More than 2,800 deaths have been reported, which represents more than 60% of all COVID-19 deaths for the entire state. As of May 19, there have been 4,463 deaths total in Pennsylvania.
At least 20 people died in 47 different facilities across Pennsylvania. In releasing the data, state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine announced that all employees and residents would be tested for the coronavirus moving forward, though she did not give a timeframe for how long that process would take.
"We have continued to do everything we can to help those facilities and now that the testing capacity is there, we’re working out a way to test everyone -- all the patients and all the staff in every facility -- (at) both the nursing homes and the personal came homes," Levine said.
The most deaths for one facility occurred in western Pennsylvania's Brighton Rehab and Wellness Center, where 78 residents have died.
The second-most deaths at a single facility occurred in Parkhouse Nursing and Rehabilition Center in Royersford, Montgomery County. The data shows that 48 people have died there from COVID-19.
Six other facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania, including two in Delaware County and one each in Bucks, Chester and Philadelphia counties, all had 32 or more deaths. Levine also said state inspectors have sent surveys about infection rates and responses to 400 nursing homes and the state continues to monitor their activities remotely.
"We are everyday thinking about how we can help those facilities," she said. "Now, we have the National Guard that is going out to those facilities, (and) we just reported that we have the CDC teams going out and looking at those facilities."
Here is a searchable database of all 557 facilities. The asterisks signify less than five cases or deaths:
