As pandemic raged and thousands died, government regulators cleared most nursing homes of infection-control violations

"The [nursing home] facilities that were cited for breakdowns often escaped significant penalties… Inspectors reported violations at about 3,500 homes, ranging from dirty medical equipment to a lack of social distancing. Though federal law allows CMS to levy fines of roughly $22,000 for each day a serious violation lingers, most providers were fined little or nothing at all.”