Senior care group makes urgent call for more testing, protective equipment

Nursing home staff caring for the elderly, who are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus, want the state to provide them with more testing and urgently needed personal protective equipment.

The call comes in the wake of the deaths of 18 veterans — 12 of whom tested positive for the coronavirus and three whose tests are still pending — at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, where another 23 veterans and seven staff have tested positive, according to the state. Two residents who had tested positive at the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home also died, and nine other residents and two staff there have been infected.

“Despite all of our collective mitigation efforts and the dedication of our frontline staff, we anticipate an increasing number of nursing facility residents and their caregivers will test positive for COVID-19,” said Tara Gregorio, president of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association.

Gregorio urged government agencies to revise their testing criteria to ensure a greater number of nursing home residents and staff qualify for testing.

“Without testing of staff, we have more staff staying at home who may not have COVID-19,” she said.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said that on Tuesday the state began rolling out on-site swabbing and expedited testing for nursing facilities, using the Massachusetts National Guard.

The state has 700 long-term care facilities, including 380 nursing homes, 255 assisted living residences and 62 rest homes, and has identified coronavirus clusters in about 78 of these facilities, Sudders said.

Nursing home staff already are screened for symptoms at the start of each shift, Gregorio said. If a fever or other symptoms are detected, the staff member is sent home to self-quarantine for 14 days.

But personal protective equipment in nursing facilities remains “urgently” needed to protect both residents and staff, she said.

An Executive Office of Health and Human Services spokeswoman said the state has a team placing orders with national and international companies, as well as tracking down supplies at local industries, colleges and universities. Once those supplies are received, she said, they will be distributed to health care facilities, including nursing homes, and first responders.

Mary Markos contributed to this report.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3dT558n