California is calling for all residents and health care workers at skilled nursing facilities to be tested for the new coronavirus to try to slow the spread of the illness. The state’s Department of Public Health issued a letter saying facilities should draft testing plans for all residents in settings without cases and all residents who have been exposed to the virus. It also calls for testing of residents admitted from hospitals and says those who test negative should be quarantined for 14 days and then retested.
“Mandatory testing will provide the knowledge we all need to make informed care decisions,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health and human services secretary.
The letter comes as the state’s 1,200 skilled nursing facilities have struggled with the virus, which spreads quickly in congregate living facilities and among elderly and frail residents. More than 1,600 residents of these facilities who had the virus died, accounting for roughly 40 percent of California’s total virus deaths, state data shows.
