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The latest release of AARP’s Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard depicts a worsening crisis from coast to coast, including Louisiana. In the four-week period ending Dec. 20, 56.3 percent of nursing homes in the state reported residents with confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and 83.7 percent with at least one staff member diagnosed.

In Louisiana, the rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes have more than doubled. From Nov. 23 to Dec. 20, Louisiana nursing homes had:

• 1,171 new COVID-19 cases, up from 456 in the previous four-week period
• 175 COVID-19 deaths, up from 70
• 1,146 new staff COVID-19 cases, up from 476

Shortages of personal protective equipment have declined slightly over the same period, from 17.4 percent of nursing homes without a one-week supply to 15.5 percent. Meanwhile, staffing shortages remain a concern, with 31 percent of facilities reporting a shortage in the most recent dashboard, and little change going back to June 2020.