COVID-19 Is "An Unseen Crisis" In New Jersey's Nursing Homes

Residents from St. Joseph's Senior Home are helped on to buses in Woodbridge, N.J., Wednesday, March 25, 2020.

For weeks, New Jersey officials have been struggling to prepare the state's hospitals for the surge of patients suffering from COVID-19 as the coronavirus pandemic continues. But at the same time, many of the state's nursing homes have been caught off guard and unprepared for cases in their own facilities, leaving staff struggling with little equipment and families left out of the loop entirely.

According to Lindy Washburn, reporter for The Record newspaper, nearly 10 percent of COVID-19 deaths reported by state officials were residents of long-term care facilities. Now, as she told WNYC's Jami Floyd, New Jersey is faced with a new front in the crisis it has yet to get a handle on.

"They're still assessing what they need to do," Washburn said. "They're working hard on it, but it's a very difficult problem."

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