Last Monday governor Greg Abbott ordered that all nursing homes in Texas be tested for COVID-19.
Testing at Alameda Oaks Nursing Home began early on Tuesday morning. It is just one among dozens of nursing homes in our area that have either undergone or will be doing COVID-19 testing for their clients and employees in the coming weeks.
Wooldridge Place Nursing Center was the first to be tested on Monday, Corpus Christi Fire Chief Robert Rocha says they’ve already got the results back, and they’re good.
“Out of the approximately 150 tests that were done none of them came back positive,” said Rocha.
The State ordered fire departments across Texas to help health districts conduct COVID-19 testing at all assisted living facilities.
The order is in line with the data that shows older people are more susceptible to contracting the novel coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“We’re finding that a third of all fatalities that are current with COVID-19 are occurring in nursing homes,” said Rocha. “So it’s a good idea to get a parameter of how many people are living at nursing homes in our jurisdiction and to make sure they as well as the staff get tested for COVID-19.”
He sends between five to 10 of his crew members to each facility and they’re able to test hundreds of folks in a matter of hours.
“They break up into segments where they’ll go into one nursing home and they’ll se tup a couple teams to do testing,” said Rocha.
Depending on how quickly the Nueces Co. Health District can replenish its testing materials, he says they can move testing through two nursing homes in one day.
Rocha adds that they are trying to get all testing at nursing homes done by next week.
Nursing homes to be tested:
May 19- ALAMEDA OAKS NURSING AND REHAB CENTER
May 20- RETAMA MANOR NURSING HOME, VISTA DEL MAR
May 21- ROBSTOWN NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER, WINDSOR NURSING AND REHAB CENTER- C.C.
May 22- FOCUS CARE- CORPUS CHRISTI, WINDSOR NURSING AND REHAB CENTER IN CALALLEN
May 26- C.C. NURSING AND REHAB CENTER, PLAZA AT MIRADOR
May 27- RIVER RIDGE NURSING AND REHAB
