Abbott directs state agencies to test all nursing home residents, staff for coronavirus
Gov. Greg Abbott directed state agencies Monday to develop a plan to test all nursing home residents and staff for the novel coronavirus.
Nursing homes have become hot spots for the virus’ outbreak in Texas, and an elderly man who lived in an Arlington retirement center was the first to die from COVID-19 in Tarrant County.
Abbott instructed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas Department of State Health Services to develop and implement a plan based on the guidance of Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator.
Abbott’s announcement came shortly after the White House recommended governors test all nursing home residents and staff within the next two weeks.
“The State of Texas is working to rapidly expand our testing capacity — especially among vulnerable populations in Texas nursing homes,” Abbott said in a statement Monday. “This important collaboration among HHSC, TDEM, and DSHS will ensure that any potential clusters of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes are quickly detected and contained.”
At a press conference last Tuesday from the Texas Capitol, Phil Wilson, the acting executive commissioner of Health and Human Services, said that of the 1,220 nursing homes in Texas, 243, or about 20%, had at least one positive test.
At the time, about 317 fatalities had been associated with nursing homes, Wilson said.
According to an analysis from the Dallas Morning News, more than 40% of known COVID-19-related deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has not released the names of long-term care facilities where residents have become ill or died. When asked why, Wilson said the names have been withheld in order to comply with HIPAA privacy laws.
“We’re being respectful of people’s privacy in various institutions and we’re following the law related to medical privacy for that,” Wilson said.
Abbott announced the formation of surge response teams last week that will tackle COVID-19 flareups across the state, such as in meat packing plants, jails and senior centers.
Of the 47 teams that had been sent across the state as of last Tuesday, about 20 had visited nursing facilities, Wilson said.
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 6:04 PM.
