数据显示，美国14州半数新冠死亡病例来自养老院

养老院成为美国新冠肺炎疫情暴发的“震中”地带，无助的老年人已是美国政府抗疫不力的最大受害群体。据统计，在美国14个州，养老院新冠肺炎死亡病例竟已达全州死亡病例总数的一半以上。

Erik Zertuche places a rose into the casket of George Trefren, a 90 year old Korean War veteran who died of the COVID-19 in a nursing home, in Denver, Colorado, US. April 23, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

Privately compiled data shows Covid-19 deaths of nursing home residents now account for more than half of all fatalities in 14 states, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Only 33 states report nursing home-related deaths.

根据凯撒家庭基金会的数据，养老院老人新冠肺炎死亡数如今在美国14个州都占到了全州死亡病例的一半以上。只有33个州报告了养老院新冠肺炎死亡病例。

“I was on a phone call last week, where four or five patients came into our hospital just in one day from nursing homes,” said infectious disease specialist Dr Sunil Parikh, of Yale School of Public Health in Connecticut. “It’s just a staggering number day to day.”

康涅狄格州耶鲁大学公共卫生学院的传染病专家苏尼尔·帕里克博士说：“上周我接到了电话，一天之内就有四五位病人从养老院转到我们医院，每天的数字都很惊人。”

Despite early warnings that nursing homes were vulnerable to Covid-19, because of group living settings and the age of residents, the federal government is only beginning to gather national data.

尽管早前就有警告称，由于群体居住环境和年龄问题，养老院的老人很容易感染新冠肺炎，但联邦政府才刚刚开始收集全国的数据。

In Connecticut, 194 of 216 nursing homes have had at least one Covid-19 case. Nearly half the Covid-19 deaths in the state have been of nursing home residents. The proportion is higher elsewhere. In New Hampshire, 72% of deaths have been nursing home residents.

在康涅狄格州，216家养老院中有194家至少有一例新冠肺炎确诊病例。该州近半数的新冠肺炎死亡病例是养老院的老人。其他地方的比例更高。在新罕布什尔州，72%的新冠肺炎死亡患者是养老院的老人。

Parikh said limited testing and a lack of personal protective equipment such as masks hampered efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19 in care homes. Due to limited testing capacity, most state nursing homes are still only able to test residents with symptoms, even though the disease is known to spread asymptomatically.

帕里克说，检测数量有限、口罩等个人防护设备缺乏，这些都阻碍了在养老院遏制新冠肺炎传播的工作。由于检测能力有限，尽管人们知道新冠肺炎可以无症状传播，大多数州的养老院仍然只能对有症状的老人进行检测。

asymptomatically[,esɪmptə'mætɪkli]：adv.无症状地

“What I would like to see is the ability to test the entire nursing homes,” Parikh said. “This symptomatic approach is just not cutting it. Many states, including Connecticut, are starting to move in that direction … but I hope it becomes a national effort.”

帕里克说：“我希望看到的是可以对所有养老院的老人进行检测。这种检测出现症状者的方法并不能阻断传播。包括康涅狄格在内的许多州正开始朝这个方向努力，但我希望这能成为一项全国性的做法。”

Nursing homes have been closed to the public for weeks but a bleak picture has nonetheless emerged. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy called in 120 members of the state national guard to help long-term care facilities, after 17 bodies piled up in one nursing home.

养老院已经对公众关闭了数周，但前景依然黯淡。新泽西州州长菲尔·墨菲召集了120名州国民警卫队成员，帮助长期护理机构。此前，一家养老院里曾堆放着17具尸体。

In Maine, a 72-year-old woman who went into a home to recover from surgery died just a few months later.

在缅因州，一名72岁的妇女手术后到一家养老院康复，几个月后死亡。

“I feel like I failed my mom because I put her in the wrong nursing home,” the woman’s daughter, Andrea Donovan, told the Bangor Daily News. “This facility is responsible for so much sadness for this family for not protecting their residents.”

她的女儿安德里亚·多诺万在接受《班戈日报》采访时说：“我觉得我辜负了母亲，因为我不该把她送到这家养老院。这家养老院没有保护好老人们，应该为给我们的家庭造成的伤痛负责。”

Fifteen states have moved to shield nursing homes from lawsuits, according to Modern Healthcare.

根据《现代医疗保健》，15个州已经采取行动保护养老院免受诉讼。

Nursing home residents were among the first known cases of Covid-19 in the US. In mid-February in suburban Kirkland, Washington, 80 of 130 residents in one facility were sickened by an unknown respiratory illness, later identified as Covid-19.

美国第一批已知的部分新冠确诊病例就出现在养老院。2月中旬，在华盛顿州柯克兰的郊区，一家养老院内130名老人中有80人感染了一种未知的呼吸道疾病，之后被确诊为新冠肺炎。

Statistics from Kirkland now appear to tell the national story. Of 129 staff members, visitors and residents who got sick, all but one of the 22 who died were older residents, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

来自柯克兰的统计数字现在似乎说明了美国的情况。根据美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据，在129名员工、到访者和生病的老人中，22名死者中除了一人以外，其他都是年龄较大的老人。

By early March, most Covid-19 deaths in the US could still be traced to Kirkland.

截至3月初，美国大多数新冠肺炎死亡病例仍可追溯至柯克兰。

“One thing stands out as the virus spreads throughout the United States: nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are ground zero,” wrote Dr Tom Frieden, the former head of the CDC, for CNN on 8 March.

3月8日，美国疾病控制与预防中心前负责人汤姆·弗里登博士在接受美国有限电视资讯网采访时写道：“随着病毒在美国的传播，有一件事格外引人注目：养老院和其他长期护理机构是暴发中心。”

That day, Frieden called on federal authorities to ban visitors from nursing homes. US authorities announced new measures to protect residents several days later.

当天，弗里登呼吁联邦当局禁止人们到访养老院。几天后，美国当局宣布了保护养老院老人的新措施。

The CDC investigation into Kirkland was released on 18 March. It contained another warning: “Substantial morbidity and mortality might be averted if all long-term care facilities take steps now to prevent exposure of their residents to Covid-19.”

美国疾病控制与预防中心对柯克兰的调查结果于3月18日公布。报告中还提出了另一个警告：“如果所有长期护理机构现在都采取措施，防止老人感染新冠肺炎，就可能避免大量老人发病和死亡。”

It was not until 19 April that the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services promised to track all deaths in nursing homes. That requirement went into effect this Friday, but there is still a two-week grace period for compliance. During the period from 19 April to 8 May, 13,000 people died, according to an NBC News analysis.

直到4月19日，医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心的负责人才承诺跟踪养老院里的所有死亡病例。这一要求于上周五 “This is really decimating state after state,” said Parikh. “We have to have a very rapid shift [of focus] to the nursing homes, the veteran homes … Covid will be with us for many months.”

帕里克说：“这真是一个州接一个州的大批死亡。我们必须非常迅速地把注意力转移到养老院和老年护理机构。新冠肺炎疫情还将持续好几个月。”

decimate [ˈdesɪmeɪt]：v.大批杀害，大量毁灭