The COVID-19 death toll among Alabama long-term care facility residents has jumped to 183, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health, up from 107 fatalities from the virus just a week ago.
The 183 reported deaths among long-term care facility residents account for nearly 43 percent of the state’s 429 COVID-19 deaths, as of Tuesday, May 12.
Long-term care facilities include both nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. It’s not clear how many of the deaths are linked to nursing homes and how many are linked to assisted-living facilities.
The number of deaths has not been regularly released by the Alabama Department of Public Health, but it comes as several nursing homes in the state have experienced serious outbreaks — including facilities in Mobile, Alexander City and Hoover.
On Tuesday, the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs said that at least 23 residents of the Bill Nichols state veterans home in Alexander City have died from the virus. More than 130 residents and employees at the veterans home in Tallapoosa County have tested positive.
In Mobile, at least 20 residents and three employees have died from COVID-19 at Crowne Health Care of Mobile. More than 115 cases of the virus have been confirmed at the nursing home.
Across the state, more than 1,046 long-term care residents have tested positive for the virus, and 667 long-term care facility employees have tested positive.
The Alabama Department of Public Health did not say how many long-term care facility employees have died from the virus.
