One-Third of All U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Are Nursing Home Residents or Workers

At least 28,100 residents and workers have died from the coronavirus at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities for older adults in the United States, according to a New York Times database. The virus so far has infected more than 153,000 at some 7,700 facilities.

While just 11 percent of the country’s cases have occurred in long-term care facilities, deaths related to Covid-19 in these facilities account for more than a third of the country’s pandemic fatalities.

Some states, including Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey and South Carolina, regularly release cumulative data on cases and deaths at specific facilities. California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Ohio, among others, provide some details on the number of cases — but not on deaths. Others report aggregate totals for their state but provide no information on where the infections or deaths have occurred. About a dozen report very little or nothing at all.

The share of deaths tied to long-term care facilities for older adults is even more stark at the state level. In 14 states, the number of residents and workers who have died accounts for more than half of all deaths from the virus.

The Times’s numbers are based on official confirmations from states, counties and the facilities themselves. They include residents and, in cases where reporting is available, employees of the facilities. Given the wide variability in the type of information available, the totals shown here almost certainly represent an undercount of the true toll.

Based on The Times’s analysis, some 850 of the country’s 3,100 counties have at least one coronavirus case related to a long-term care facility for older adults.

Hover over each county to see the number of coronavirus cases at long-term care facilities, as well as the total number of cases in that county.

Note: Not all states report facility-level data.

The New York Times is tracking the coronavirus at nursing homes and long-term care centers. Do you or a family member live or work in one of these facilities? If so, we’d like to hear from you.

Here is a list of cases and deaths at long-term care facilities that have had at least 50 cases. We update the numbers as we are able to confirm them with state, county and facility officials.

Tracking the Coronavirus