By Caitlin McGlade and Anne Ryman | Arizona Republic
The federal government released a trove of data Thursday that shows at least one in three Arizona nursing homes reported a case of COVID-19, and nearly one in five had a death related to the disease.
The data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services allows the public to see the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths at each of Arizona’s nearly 150 skilled nursing homes. It’s the same information the Arizona Department of Health Services has fought to keep secret, citing confidentiality under state law.
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The federal data shows 129 Arizona nursing home residents have died.
The death toll among senior communities is, however, much higher. The federal data doesn’t include assisted-living facilities and only requires nursing homes to report cases dating back to May 8; reporting previous cases and deaths is optional.