Beginning this week, North Carolina will begin screening everyone who works or lives in private skilled nursing facilities for COVID-19.
Nursing homes are hot spots for COVID-19 outbreaks in North Carolina and across the country.
The state updates coronavirus data weekly for “congregational living environments,” which include nursing homes, residential care facilities, and correctional facilities. As of June 26, 8,605 confirmed cases of the virus and 767 deaths out of a total of 1,362 were recorded at those facilities. Eighty percent of those who died of coronavirus in North Carolina were over the age of 65.
“The death rate in those over the age of 75 remains high compared to other groups,” said Cohen. “The numbers for nursing homes may be declining primarily because we have more nursing home cases because they are spread across the state.”
To prevent further outbreaks, the state is working with CVS to provide more than 60,000 tests in more than 400 nursing homes across North Carolina.
Previously, testing was only performed if a facility had a positive test, but now all sites will be evaluated.
This will help the state identify positive cases earlier and better determine the additional infection prevention and control measures necessary to contain the spread.
The tests should be completed before September 1, authorities said.
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