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1,900 flags memorialize nursing home residents, workers who died from coronavirus

Detroit Free Press - 6/19/2020

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Don Hill believes he brought the coronavirus home from the nursing facility where he works. Then his wife contracted it.

He recovered, but Nancy Hill, his 65-year-old wife, did not. She died April 24.

“I always feared that if she got it that she probably wouldn’t make it,” Don Hill said Thursday of his wife, who was retired and disabled. “My fears came true.”

Hill, a nurse at Warren Woods Health and Rehabilitation Center in Warren, spoke at a memorial in Detroit that honored nursing homes residents and workers who have lost their lives amid the coronavirus pandemic.

There were 1,900 purple flags -- symbolizing the number of nursing home residents and workers with COVID-19-related deaths in Michigan -- spread out over the grass along East Grand Boulevard.

<strong style="margin-right:3px;">More: Death toll rises as coronavirus sweeps through Michigan nursing homes

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State data released this week shows nursing home residents account for one in three of Michigan’s COVID-19-related deaths. According to the latest data, the deaths of 1,976 nursing home residents and 24 employees at facilities across the state were coronavirus-related.

Service Employees International Union Healthcare Michigan held the memorial and called for better working conditions at nursing homes.

“We can’t bring back those that we have lost,” said Ken Haney, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Michigan. “But we can demand accountability and actions from our leaders that will change the foundations of our nursing home industry to make sure essential workers have the protection, the training and support needed throughout the pandemic and beyond.”

He said one of the biggest issues at nursing homes currently is that some employees still don’t have proper personal protective equipment while working on COVID-19 floors.

In addition to the deaths, there have been more than 7,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus among nursing home residents and more than 3,000 confirmed cases among staff.

About four dozen people attended the event Thursday night, some holding signs that said "ESSENTIAL WORKERS FOR BLACK LIVES MATTER."

The group participated in a moment of silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds that paid tribute to nursing home residents and employees who have lost their lives, as well as George Floyd. He died last month when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

During the silence, some knelt and wiped tears from their eyes.

Staff Writer Kristi Tanner contributed to this report.

Contact Elisha Anderson: eanderson@freepress.com. Follow on Twitter: @elishaanderson

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 1,900 flags memorialize nursing home residents, workers who died from coronavirus

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