Despite the fact, that the elderly are among the most vulnerable to the Coronavirus, Pennsylvania was among several states, including New York, that required nursing homes and long term facilities to accept hospital patients, even if they still had the Coronavirus.

The Pennsylvania Bucks County Courier Times stated:

On March 29, as Pennsylvania, New York and other states began ordering nursing homes to admit medically stable residents infected with the coronavirus….

The health directives put “frail and older adults who reside in nursing homes at risk” and would “result in more people going to the hospital and more deaths,” the American Health Care Association and affiliates said at the time.

READ: Controversial Decisions by Governors in NY, NJ, and PA Criticized as Factors in High Level of COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths

According to ABC27, as of May 13, 2020, nearly 70% of Coronavirus deaths in Pennsylvania are from nursing homes or long-term care facilities. READ: Pennsylvania Health Secretary offers guidance for nursing homes, governor insists on gradual reopening

After Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine issued the order to return potential COVID patients to nursing homes, ABC27 discovered that Levine had subsequently helped move her 95-year-old mother out of the personal care home where she was staying. READ: PA Health Secretary Moved Mother Out Of Personal Care Home After Ordering Nursing Homes To Accept COVID Patients

Table 1	(Source: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
	Number of Nursing Home COVID-19 Deaths Highest Ten States, as of May 7, 2020
	State	Deaths
	New York	5,215
	New Jersey	4,556
	Massachusetts	2,653
	Pennsylvania	2,355
	Connecticut	1,249
	Illinois	1,082
	California	946
	Maryland	804
	Louisiana	738
	Georgia	633
	33  State Total	24,974