VA Patient Deaths Rise, Coronavirus Cases Fall as Department Eyes Return to Normal Operations

COVID-19 deaths at VA hospitals across America is still increasing though the active case count is on a steady fall, as data released by the federal administration on Wednesday. Over 30 employees and 1,082 VA patients died due to coronavirus complications in the 3 months. The current patient death toll rose almost 14% during the last week alone and has doubled since May. Three VA sites near or in New York City – East Orange, N.J, Brooklyn, and the Bronx – have recorded a total of 248 deaths. Over 14 medical centers in the country have recorded 20+ coronavirus-related deaths.
The good news is the total covid-19 case count in VA hospitals has been on a steep decline even as deaths continue to rise. As of this Wednesday, officials reported 1,771 cases across 138 different hospitals, which is 25% less compared to the previous week. The COVID-19 case count was nearly 3,000 in the month of May. In the last 90 days alone, VA hospitals have treated over 12,500 coronavirus cases, including family members of active-duty personnel, veteran patients, and individuals with zero military connections in places where existing hospitals have exceeded their capacity.
VA staff members have ran over 158,000 COVID-19 tests since March, when the pandemic first broke out. Over 8% of these tests have come back positive and around 8.5% of these positive cases have resulted in death. The latest report from the CDC stated that the current fatality rate among the American population stands at approximately 6%.
However, VA administration officials stated that their patient mortality data should not be utilized for comparing VA mortality or infection rates with the entire community due to differences in follow-up, population risk, and test availability. VA officials released plans to reopen over 20 VA medical centers partially to restore the medical system back to its pre-coronavirus status.
Since March, several critical medical facilities were severely restricted to prevent the virus from spreading rapidly. Over 1.5 million American citizens have already been infected by the virus. These twenty lead sites might allow for elective medical surgeries and procedures and face-to-face doctor’s appointments to take place, based on new safety protocols and staff availability. Out of these 20 sites, 13 of them have at least 1 patient who is currently undergoing treatment for COVID-19. The Benefit Coordinators THE Federal Short Term Disability Insurance!