The Impact of COVID-19 on Nursing Homes in Italy: the case of Lombardy

Italy was the first western country strongly hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. This Perspective focuses on the large number of deaths that occurred in nursing homes during the first wave of the pandemic, and the weak capacity of public policy to provide them with adequate protection. The analysis focuses on the case of the Lombardy Region, where the mortality rate due to COVID-19 in nursing homes was the highest in Europe. In the search for possible causes, we investigate the situation of such facilities before the pandemic. Two aspects are analyzed: their institutional embeddedness and recent trends in their management. We conclude by arguing that the negative impact of COVID-19 stems from the poor development of long-term care policy and from the marginality of residential institutions within the healthcare system.