STEVE GOLDSTEIN: [On August 3,] the Arizona Department of Health Services has recorded another 1,030 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to more than 179,000. The department is also reporting an additional 14 deaths. That means 3,779 Arizonans have now died from COVID-related illness.

LAUREN GILGER: Older people are considered one of the highest risk groups for dying from COVID-19. A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation looked at the percentage of covered deaths among those older than 65 in each state. The national average was 80%. Idaho topped the list at 94%, while Washington, D.C. and Texas were the lowest, 70%. Arizona's percentage of COVID-19 deaths among those 65 and older was 74% — below the national average and the same as Nebraska and Mississippi. Our co-host Mark Brodie spoke more about this with Meredith Freed, policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

MARK BRODIE: You know, we keep hearing that this is a particularly vulnerable population to this particular virus and this disease. So I'm curious, what are your major takeaways from nationally what you found?

MEREDITH FREED: Yeah, so you're absolutely right, Mark. Older adults have been one of the hardest hit populations during the pandemic. And to date, 80% of people who have died of COVID-19 have been 65 and older. But for this analysis, we wanted to see what kind of variation there was on the state level in terms of the age of people who were dying of this virus. And we found that there was a considerable range, from 70% in [Washington, D.C.] and Texas, to 94% in Idaho. And for your listeners specifically, we found that 74% of people who died in Arizona were 65 and older, which is lower than the national average.

BRODIE: Yeah, and I'm curious about that because clearly, you know, 74% is, is most. I mean, it's almost three-quarters of people in Arizona who have died from COVID-19 have been 65 and older. But it's, as you reference, considerably below the top echelon of states. It's also lower than the national average of 80%. What do we make of that?

FREED: Yes, that's a, that's a great question, especially because Arizona actually has an older population compared to many other states. But our findings indicate that the age of a state's population doesn't necessarily track with the age of people who are dying from the disease. So it's other factors that are likely contributing to more younger people dying, such as the racial composition of a population, for example. In Arizona specifically, there is a large Hispanic population. And studies have shown that Hispanic and Black Americans are more likely to be hospitalized and die of this virus, especially younger adults. And there could be other factors as well, like the prevalence of underlying medical conditions in the population that put people at increased risk of severe illness.

BRODIE: So it sounds like one of the issues that you're finding in a state like Arizona is that there might be other factors that maybe contribute more to death from COVID-19 than just somebody's age, as you referenced, certain minority populations that have been shown to be more at risk and more vulnerable to this.

FREED: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, conversely, we're seeing in other states that were affected earlier on in the outbreak that had a large share of death and deaths in long-term care facilities, those states were seeing — have a much higher share of older people dying of COVID-19, especially people 85 and older.

BRODIE: One of the factors that has been surprising some folks in Arizona is looking at the cases of COVID-19 by age group — not, not necessarily deaths but cases — and the vast, vast majority of cases in Arizona are happening in people who are ages 20 to 44 and those 65 and older — the population we're talking about with relation to deaths is the fourth biggest population of people with cases. I'm wondering from a public health perspective, what does it say that 74% of the people in Arizona are dying from COVID-19, and yet that is not in the top three even of populations and demographics of ages who are contracting the virus?

FREED: So I think it says a couple of things. First, that I think older adults have gotten the message that they're at increased risk, so a lot of them are staying home and not venturing out, which means that many of them may choose not to get tested. On the other hand, similarly, I think younger adults believe that they might be at less risk of getting the disease and even if they test positive, they might not get severely ill. But our results from this study show that, yes, while older adults definitely are still at the most increased risk, younger adults are at increased risk as well.

BRODIE: One of the factors that we've heard about really through the course of this pandemic is incidents of, you know, outbreaks at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, other types of care facilities where there are clusters of, of folks, you know, typically in the older age group, and how quickly COVID-19 can spread in those facilities. I'm wondering how something like that factors into what you found here.

FREED: Yeah. So the, sort of these congregate settings are definitely places that kind of lend themselves to outbreaks and especially among adults, older adults, which are increased risk of getting the virus. CMS, which is the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service, has issued a series of guidances since the beginning of the pandemic to help nursing homes protect their residents, such as limiting visitors, testing staff and residents regularly wearing face masks and other personal protective equipment to protect adults in these settings. But unfortunately, we are still seeing new outbreaks in some of these facilities, despite these changes, so there's definitely still work to be done to help protect people.

BRODIE: When you look at the findings that you have here, does that point to any specific policy changes that you think might need to happen or maybe personal behavior changes that you think might need to happen?

FREED: I don't think I can speak to any policy changes in particular, but I think, you know, it is important to, you know, to keep an eye on this. We definitely intend to look at these numbers again in the next month or so to see how sort of the, the newest sort of surge in cases and deaths contribute to these trends and whether we do start to see more older adults dying in some of these states that were showing a younger population, maybe because, again, some of the outbreaks in long-term care facilities that we're seeing, or if actually the number of younger people who are contracting the disease are actually leading to more people, younger people dying of the disease.

BRODIE: All right, that is Meredith Freed, a policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Meredith, thanks for your time. I appreciate it.

FREED: Thanks for having me.

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