Pa. nursing homes complete first round of universal COVID-19 testing. Here’s what it means in Centre County
All residents and staff at Centre County nursing homes have now been tested at least once for the new coronavirus, following a statewide mandate.
All 693 nursing homes in Pennsylvania tested every resident and employee to better understand how deeply COVID-19 infiltrated facilities throughout the state, the state Health Department said Tuesday.
“This was an essential step to ensure that we further protect residents and staff within these vulnerable communities,” Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said in a statement. “We provided nursing home owners and operators with the resources they needed to complete this huge task and we are appreciative for their cooperation.”
Universal testing — paid for through a partnership forged between the DOH, CVS and Eurofins — allowed nursing homes to detect asymptomatic residents and staff.
Decisions could then be made about how to manage residents’ care, appropriately exclude staff from work and mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19.
Personal care homes, assisted living residences and immediate care facilities — all licensed by the state Department of Human Services — are required to complete universal testing for COVID-19 at least once by Aug. 31.
Friday was the deadline for baseline testing in nursing homes, but some facilities in Centre County have continued to test residents and employees throughout the pandemic.
Centre Crest residents and employees are being tested weekly, Administrator Andrew Naugle said Wednesday. All test samples are sent to a lab in North Carolina and results have typically been returned in less than two days, Naugle said.
“We have a pretty good system now,” Naugle said. “... It’s been a pretty smooth process for us.”
About 68% of the state’s 7,162 deaths as of noon Wednesday were reported in long-term care facilities, according to the DOH. Eight of Centre County’s 10 deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported in long-term care facilities.
About 21% of the state’s 110,281 cases as of noon Wednesday were reported among residents and employees. About 14% of Centre County’s 370 cases were reported among residents and employees.
The DOH does not expect to see a sharp increase in cases at long-term care facilities, spokesperson Nate Wardle wrote in a statement.
Many facilities completed testing before Friday’s deadline and that information was already incorporated into the department’s statewide data, Wardle wrote.
“For any that were awaiting results due to the national backlogs, as they come in we will report them out, but we do not expect that it would lead to a noticeable spike,” Wardle wrote.
Five facilities in Centre County reported at least one case of COVID-19, with some posting updates on their websites.
Five Centre Crest employees and four residents tested positive since March, and each recovered, Naugle said. The facility has no active cases of COVID-19.
Six Windy Hill Village residents tested positive and each recovered. There are no active cases at the Rush Township-based facility.