1 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:08,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day three hundred 2 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:12,240 Speaker 1: and fifty four since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: Today's main story. Some Democratic governors have been under fire 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: for mishandling nursing home outbreaks as the pandemic surged last spring. 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: There are Republican critics see that as an opportunity. But first, 6 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: here's what happened in virus news today. Federal health officials 7 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: called on Texas and Mississippi residence to keep wearing masks, 8 00:00:54,880 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: even as governors there lift COVID nineteen restrictions. Rochelle Wilenski, 9 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says 10 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: it's premature to abandon mitigation efforts and that the virus 11 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: can still erupt again. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday 12 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: that the state would lift its mask mandate and reopened 13 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: businesses next week. He has also banning counties from finding 14 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: or jailing people who disregard local measures defining previous warnings 15 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:36,279 Speaker 1: from Woolenski and others. South African authorities said they ceased 16 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: about two thousand, four hundred doses of fake coronavirus vaccines. 17 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: After following up on a global alert issued by Interpol. 18 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: The bogus shots were found at a warehouse in Germiston's 19 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: near Johannesburg, and three Chinese nationals and a Zambian national 20 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: were arrested, according to the police in a statement. Finally, 21 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: at another vaccine in development is showing promising results. Bahara's 22 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: covaccent demonstrated interim efficacy after two doses. Those early results 23 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: come from phase three clinical trials involving thousand, eight hundred patients. 24 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: The study is still ongoing and the company will release 25 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: a final analysis after there are a hundred and thirty 26 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: confirmed coronavirus cases. And now for today's main story. In 27 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,679 Speaker 1: recent months, GOP lawmakers have keeped criticism on Democratic governors 28 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: for how they handled outbreaks at nursing homes early in 29 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: the pandemic. Michigan Republicans, who have been hostile to Governor 30 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: Gretchen Whitmer throughout the crisis, are now asking the state's 31 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: attorney general to investigate how she coped with that challenge. 32 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:05,679 Speaker 1: Republicans say that people died unnecessarily thanks to Whitmer's order 33 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: that nursing homes readmit residents with COVID nineteen if they 34 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: had capacity and quarantine capabilities. I spoke to Detroit Bureau 35 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: Chief David Welch, who says Michigan's fatality rate was lower 36 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: than the national average and that many of those on 37 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: the pandemics front lines dispute the assertions. Governor Gretchen Whitmer 38 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: has recently faced several critiques regarding how she handled Michigan's 39 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: nursing homes during the COVID crisis. I was just wondering 40 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: if you could maybe outline some of those criticisms she's faced. 41 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: The primary one is affected during the summer when COVID 42 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: was really spreading heavily in Michigan, actually spring um, she 43 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: issued an order saying that nursing homes could and in 44 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: fact should, take COVID positive residents back into the homes 45 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: or accept them in u Now, her order did say 46 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: as long as the nursing homes had a place where 47 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: they could quarantine them and and proper equipment in place 48 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: so that everybody could take care of these patients without 49 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: the virus spreading all of the place, then fine. However, 50 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: the Republicans jumped on that immediately, and they pushed her 51 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: to open nursing open up field hospitals and convention centers 52 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: and places like that. And despite lasted all throughout where 53 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: the Republicans wanted her to put them someplace else, and 54 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: as nursing home deaths from COVID kept rising, the criticism 55 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: got hotter and hotter. In reality, Luchi and actually did 56 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: better in terms of percentage of deaths and nursing homes 57 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: than the average state, and actually did quite a bit 58 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: better than neighboring Ohio, which as a Republican governor and 59 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: did kind of the same thing that Whitman did, which 60 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: was allowing people back into nursing homes with COVID as 61 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: long as they could be quarantined somehow. So you can 62 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,840 Speaker 1: see how political this got. The Republican is jumping all 63 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: over her for it, and uh and Witmer standing her 64 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: ground and saying this is this is the best way 65 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: to handle them. It came back up again in the 66 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: wake of Governor Cuoma in New York, Governor Newsman California, 67 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 1: Governor Wolf in Pennsylvania getting a lot of criticism from 68 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 1: Republicans and their states over this. Quoma situation is obviously 69 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: different because there are allegations that he actually tried to 70 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: hide numbers. No one has suggested that Whitman did that, 71 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: but once that came up, the Republicans asked the Democratic 72 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: attorney general in Michigan to investigate her over this. So 73 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: what started to the last April May as a big 74 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: controversy and heated up later in the summer has come 75 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: back up again, you know, almost a copyhead calls for 76 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: investigation that we've seen in a handful of other democratic 77 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: states around the US. And as you've already pointed out, 78 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: there is a very significant political angle here. What do 79 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: you see as the perhaps broader national political agenda to 80 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 1: these critiques. This is very similar to how the Democrats 81 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: got Donald Trump out of the White House. There were 82 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: a lot of things that the Democrats used against Donald Trump, 83 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: issues of race and gender and so forth, But really 84 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: his his response to COVID, and they're alleged in the 85 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: alleged inadequacy of it, really kind of did Trump in 86 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: with a lot of swim voters. So Republicans are trying 87 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: to tear a page out of that same book. They 88 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: see an opening with these nursing home deaths in Michigan, 89 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,280 Speaker 1: and they're going after wit before in the same way 90 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: they have in other states. The reason I brought up 91 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: Ohio earlier is you have in Michigan about thirty three 92 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: percent of COVID death from nursing homes. Patients were allowed 93 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: and if if the nursing home had the space, had 94 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: the equipment to quarantine those people. I had a pretty 95 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: similar set of rules for its nursing homes. Of the 96 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: state's death from COVID. We're in nursing homes, and they 97 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: had a couple of thousand more of them in the 98 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: nursing homes as well. And none of the Republicans have 99 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: gone after Mike Dwine, a Republican for the same thing. 100 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: So there are some obvious political things. There are also 101 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: some legitimate questions about this is how nursing homes were handled, 102 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: and this is the best way to do it, uh 103 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: and we're there potentially better choices, But it doesn't look 104 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: like that's what's going on here. Because this this whole 105 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: thing came up, it had kind of gone quiet for 106 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: a while and then came up again once it became 107 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: controversial in New York and in California, and exactly right, 108 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: I mean, with the recent accusations against Governor Cuomo. As 109 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: you outline that there has been some um suggestion that 110 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: there has been let's say, mishandling of the data or 111 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: even hiding of numbers. I mean, when we look at 112 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: Michigan's numbers, um, I mean, is there any reason not 113 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: to trust the data that Michigan is reporting potentially and 114 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: look at you know, I want to give some of 115 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: the Republicans at least who are questioning this their due. 116 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 1: Data from nursing homes is not great, and there wasn't 117 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: a great system for gathering that data because we didn't 118 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: have a pandemic like this before. And what's what's what 119 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: was supposed to happen If a nursing home had a 120 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: resident who caught COVID and they got sick enough that 121 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 1: they had to go to a hospital. If that resident 122 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: had a room still reserved for them in the nursing home, 123 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: but they passed away in the hospital, the nursing home 124 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: was supposed to count that death in their facility. If 125 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: they weren't holding the room, then the hospital would count it. 126 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: Arguably was still a nursing home death. What we also 127 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: don't know is how consistently nursing homes were actually doing this. 128 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: Some of the employees I talked to said that nursing 129 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: homes were actually trying to kind of key the case 130 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: and death count low because they didn't want to be 131 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: seen as a COVID institution. One of the things that 132 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: happened during the pandemic was nursing home capacity rates are say, 133 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: occupancy rates fell from about you know, typically eighty four 134 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: percent to as low as seventies and nursing rooms needed 135 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: patients are needed residents. Is not a great way to 136 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: make a lot of money in that business, so they, 137 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: you know, there was an incentive to try to keep 138 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:31,440 Speaker 1: the numbers low. Is this something Whitman did? Is something 139 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: that state did know that the residencies were supposed to 140 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: report this stuff and reported accurately. It hasn't been audited. 141 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: No one knows how accurately they were reporting it. Now. 142 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,319 Speaker 1: Robert Gordon, who's the let's say passed head of the 143 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: Michigan Department of Health and Safety, he said he couldn't 144 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: stand by the data for those reasons because they just 145 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: don't know. Now, if you want to say that Michigan 146 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: State is no good and therefore the comparison that a 147 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: third of its death with for from COVID is not 148 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: really valid. That presupposed other states had a great system 149 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: for collecting this data as well, and it's not really 150 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: clear that they did. In fact, we talked to the 151 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,839 Speaker 1: Kaiser Institute well reporting this out and they said, look, 152 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: it is really hard because not every state reports the 153 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: same way and out every state has great data collection. 154 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:20,719 Speaker 1: It's you know, it's it's not a terrible number to use, 155 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: but it's never going to be perfect. So yeah, there 156 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: are questions about this, and you would you would only 157 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: know what if you audited it. You know, maybe that's 158 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: one thing the Republicans would like to see. It's not 159 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: a bad idea because then again, we're gonna assess the 160 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,200 Speaker 1: extent of the problem in nursing homes and try to 161 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: have them prepared for the next time around. It's it's 162 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: not that's not an unreasonable request. And when we look 163 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: at the situation that's happening in Michigan and kind of 164 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: these accusations and finger pointing, I mean, is it something 165 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: that you would see is is perhaps a more fundamental 166 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: divide between say Republicans and Democrats about how to stem 167 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: COVID spread, whether to focus on say hot spots like 168 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: nursing homes, or for example, introducing stricter measures at the 169 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: community levels, such as shutting down restaurants or gym's. This 170 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: is a big issue in Michigan and it's one of 171 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: the reasons we really focused on the nursing home and 172 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: COVID issue here because the politics have been so divisive. 173 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: You had people armed, protesters marching on the capitol over 174 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: Governor Woodman, shut down orders of gym's, restaurants, bars, and 175 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: so forth. There was a lot of accusation by Republicans 176 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,599 Speaker 1: over the past year that she was overreaching and what 177 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: she was shutting down, and there were probably similar She 178 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: had criticisms there that that businesses like construction contractors that 179 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: that had to down their tools for a little bit, 180 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: you know, they were by that by the spring would 181 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: have been working outdoors. That didn't last long though She 182 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: kind of got things going back up pretty quickly. But 183 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: a lot of these other issues, and including mask wearing 184 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: in some cases where the subject of the protests from 185 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: Republicans and from conservative groups. They didn't like the fact 186 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: that the governor had executive orders to tell them what 187 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: to do and what to wear and when to work 188 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: and what could be open. And the biggest indicator of 189 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: whether a nursing home has a serious issue with COVID 190 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: or not is what's going on in the outside community, 191 00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: because what the health care studies are saying is that 192 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: the employees bring it in. People are out at restaurants, bars, 193 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: or just from family members, they get COVID symptoms are 194 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,679 Speaker 1: mild in the early days. Testing was really bad in 195 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: the first six months of the pandemic hit, and they 196 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: go to work anyway, and then they spread it around 197 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,439 Speaker 1: the nursing home. You know, the nursing homes are places 198 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: where people are kind of close together, a lot of 199 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: people in a small facility. You know, a lot of 200 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: the people who work there couldn't afford to take paid 201 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: time off. So even if they had mild symptoms, didn't 202 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: know they had COVID. They certainly weren't being that cautious 203 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: in all cases. And that's a big issue. So, you know, 204 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: the Republicans saying, well, these you know, there are other 205 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 1: ways to manage the nursing homes, and there may have been, 206 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: but none of the solutions were great. But really the 207 00:12:58,000 --> 00:12:59,679 Speaker 1: best way to keep nursing hose from getting it was 208 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,599 Speaker 1: to protect at the outside community. And though and and 209 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 1: and the measures to protect communities are the things that 210 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 1: they fought the most. And speaking of nursing homes, let's 211 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: let's look at it from the employee side. I mean, 212 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: how were they supported in Michigan. The employees were not 213 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: equipped and they know. I talked to a number of 214 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: people who work in the nursing homes. They were doing 215 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: things like if they had a mask and the band broke, 216 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: they were stapling it back on. Some of them told 217 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: me that if they had the basic surgical mask, let 218 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: alone in the nine had a basical surgical mask, they 219 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: were doing pretty well. So they were not equipped at all. 220 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:33,960 Speaker 1: And the other problem is they make about thirteen hours 221 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: an hour. Governor Whitmer eventually ordered a two doll an 222 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: hour raise to give these people a little bit of 223 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: breathing room. But a lot of them didn't have paid 224 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,200 Speaker 1: time off. The nursing home Reunion, the s c IU 225 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,240 Speaker 1: was negotiating a new contract during the pandemic to try 226 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 1: to get paid time off, trying to get a raise, 227 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: to get better healthcare because a lot of the workers, 228 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: if they had some symptoms, they were only being tested 229 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: every seven days and it took another week to get 230 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: the test back, so they could have COVID symptoms or 231 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: be symptom free, and the test would take six or 232 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,439 Speaker 1: seven days to come back, and they would be working 233 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: with and amongst intreating nursing home residents while they may 234 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: have had the virus in the early and most contagious stages. 235 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: So when you can't afford to take time off, you 236 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: go into work, and these people had to be there. 237 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: And people are also quitting nursing homes because they didn't 238 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: want to catch COVID during the pandemic, so you had 239 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 1: fewer and fewer people. They were working long hours, some 240 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: of the moonlight in different nursing homes, so it really 241 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: was a bad situation. They didn't have the equipment, they 242 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: didn't have the training, and there were too few of 243 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: them working long hours um and they were either afraid 244 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: or couldn't afford to take the time off if they 245 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: had some symptoms. It was quite a bad situation. That 246 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: was David Welch and that's it for our show to Day. 247 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: For coverage of the outbreak from one and twenty bureaus 248 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: around the world, visit bloomberg dot com slash coronavirus and 249 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 1: if you like the show, please leave us a review 250 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: and a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the 251 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: best way to help more listeners find our global reporting. 252 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: The Prognosis Daily edition is produced by Top for foreheads 253 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: Magnus Henrickson and me Laura Carlson. Today's main story was 254 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: reported by David Welch. Original music by Leo Cedrin. Our 255 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: editors are Rick Shine and Francesco Levi. Francesco Levi is 256 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Thanks for listening.