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Coronavirus Nursing Home Outbreaks Prompt Differing Responses
Warning notices are posted on a door at the Cedar Mountain Post Acute nursing facility in Yucaipa, after a COVID-19 outbreak there. (Chris Carlson/AP)
The Los Angeles County health department is ordering nursing homes to test all residents and staff for COVID-19, even if they don’t have symptoms.
That’s because 40% of coronavirus deaths in L.A. county have been residents of skilled nursing facilities.
The coronavirus has also spread through five nursing homes in Orange County. As of Friday, there have been 130 confirmed cases among residents and 87 among staff.
Even though it faces a similar public health crisis, Orange County is not requiring testing of everyone in nursing homes.
As more tests become available, asymptomatic testing is gaining traction. Researchers have found that it can take 14 days for someone who is exposed to the coronavirus to develop symptoms, meaning health care workers could be spreading the virus even if they feel healthy.
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OC Nursing Homes Are Latest Coronavirus Hot Spot
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