**3.1 COVID-19 in nursing homes**

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has already confirmed more than 39.1 million cases, with more than 639,000 deaths, which make the United States the most of any country, and the 24 highest per capita worldwide. COVID-19 has been shown to affect the elderly (aged 65 years and older) particularly severely, with this demographic having the highest COVID-19-related hospitalization rate in the US of around 600 per 100,000 cases [5]. Given that older adults experience a greater number and severity of chronic diseases and disabilities, it is inevitable that COVID-19 will disproportionately affect this population [6]. Thus, it is not surprising that elderly people residing in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, have the greatest susceptibility to COVID-19, as well as the poorest outcomes from infections.

Using state and federal data, the COVID Tracking Project (CTP) estimates that as of March 2021, about 8% of people who love in US long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19 (nearly 1 in 12), and nearly 1 in 10 for nursing homes alone. According to CTP, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a third of all US COVID-related deaths were long-term-care facility deaths, which include nursing homes, assisted living, and other long-term care facilities.
