Friday, April 24, 2020

LA County Bars Visitors At Nursing Homes, Communal Activity Inside Facilities

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Nursing homes and other facilities will no longer be allowed to have visitors in response to continued outbreaks of the coronavirus at such facilities, officials said Friday.

Under a revised order from Los Angeles County, only essential workers will be admitted to congregate living facilities as officials say 43% of the county’s fatalities are occurring in skilled nursing homes.

Nearly 300 institutional settings — including nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, shelters, jails and prisons — have had at least one case, according to Barbara Ferrer, director of the county’s Department of Public Health.

Those institutions make up a total of 5,339 cases, and 365 deaths, representing 43% of all coronavirus
fatalities countywide, Ferrer said.

Under the new order, all staffers at affected facilities are required to wear surgical masks at all times, and protective equipment when necessary. It also requires residents to wear face coverings when outside
their rooms.

Testing of all residents and staff at such facilities will begin Monday, regardless of whether they are showing any coronavirus symptoms, Ferrer said.

Another 52 deaths from the coronavirus were reported Friday, bringing the county’s total to 848. Ferrer said one death that had been previously reported in the county turned out to be a resident of another jurisdiction.

Of those who have died from the illness in the county, Ferrer noted that 91% had underlying health conditions.

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