Since Maine’s first positive test for the coronavirus in March, more than half the COVID-19 fatalities have been residents of nursing homes. In fact, Maine is one of just eight states with nursing home mortality rates above 50%.

Why weren’t these long-term care facilities better prepared to protect Maine’s most vulnerable citizens? Where was the oversight by state agencies tasked with making sure nursing-home residents are safe?

Public health officials in Maine state government should have seen this coming. That’s their job. If they were paying any attention at all, they would have taken steps to secure Maine’s nursing homes against the catastrophic outcomes that have befallen other states.

By her own account, Gov. Janet Mills was counting on Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, to “delay the outbreak” and “minimize our exposure.” So, just exactly what did Shah do to protect nursing-home residents in Maine? What did he do and when did he do it?

Whatever he did — if anything — it was too little and too late.

For her part, what did Gov. Mills do after she learned in early March that a nursing home in Washington state was ground zero for the coronavirus plague in America? She shut down restaurants and campgrounds, she ordered churches not to hold worship services, and she made it illegal to take a walk on some beaches.

At a time when she should have been focused on making sure our long-term care facilities didn’t turn into killing fields, Gov. Mills joined the stampede of blue-state governors who were spooked by baseless doomsday predictions that millions of Americans would die. The governors’ job-killing, constitutionally suspect lockdowns did nothing to protect those most at risk from the pandemic.

I believe the nursing home fatalities cry out for a grand jury investigation. If you agree, sign the online petition here.

Rep. Larry Lockman 

R-Bradley