In the coming weeks, we will see a genuine struggle in the American media to determine whether the dominant narrative of the early months of the pandemic is . . .

Wise blue state governors enacted sweeping lockdowns in their states and saved lives, while irresponsible, reckless red state governors opened up beaches and businesses too early, dooming their citizens to needless deaths…

. . . or . . .

While each governor responded differently, the worst effects of this pandemic came in nursing homes, and several states enacted policies that increased the risk to those within those homes. New York, New Jersey and California required nursing homes to accept still-contagious recovering patients, Michigan permitted returning those patients to homes, Massachusetts eventually boosted Medicaid payments for homes accepting those patients, and Pennsylvania failed to follow its plan for handling outbreaks in nursing homes.

This morning, the Harrisburg ABC affiliate reports:

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While [State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel] Levine beefs up rules and oversight at nursing homes and long-term care facilities, ABC27 learned the health secretary’s mother recently vacated a personal care home in the Midstate.

“My mother requested, and my sister and I as her children complied to move her to another location during the Covid-19 outbreak,” Levine said. “My mother is 95 years old. She is very intelligent and more than competent to make her own decisions.”

Many in Harrisburg wondered what kind of message it sends — when a close relative of the person tasked with overseeing those types of facilities doesn’t choose to stay in one. Levine countered that she is working to protect the health of all Pennsylvanians.

Oh.

Are Pennsylvania’s nursing and long-term care homes safe? Safe enough for some people, apparently, but not safe enough for the state health director’s mother.