SAN FRANCISCO — Warning that the novel coronavirus poses an extreme risk to the nation’s elderly and infirm, nursing home industry leaders on Tuesday said they are recommending unprecedented action to curtail most social visits in the thousands of nursing homes and assisted living centers in the United States. The recommendation comes with the support of the federal government following an outbreak of the virus in the region around Seattle. Five long-term care facilities have been hit with cases, including a facility in Kirkland, Wash., where 18 residents have died. “The mortality rate is shocking,” said Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of the American Health Care Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. He said that the death rate might well exceed the 15 percent that has been reported in China for people aged 80 and older.

Source: New York Times March 10, 2020 15:14 UTC