Most Of A California Nursing Home’s Staffers Fail To Turn Up For Work, Forcing Evacuation Of Residents

The Washington Post: Coronavirus-Wracked California Nursing Home Evacuated After Staff Didn’t Report For Work
A California nursing home where dozens have tested positive for the novel coronavirus was forced to evacuate Wednesday after a majority of its staff failed to show up to work for the second consecutive day, according to public health officials. People decked out in masks, gloves and protective gowns could be seen wheeling residents of the Magnolia Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Riverside, Calif., one by one on stretchers to ambulances that would take them to other care facilities in the area. (Chiu, 4/9)

CNN: A California Nursing Home Was Evacuated After Its Staff Didn’t Show Up 
Dozens of patients from a nursing home in Southern California were evacuated to other centers Wednesday after employees stopped showing up for work, officials say. Magnolia Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Riverside, California has been hit hard by coronavirus, with at least 34 of 84 patients and five staff members testing positive, according to a news release from Riverside County Public Health Department. Wednesday is the second day in a row employees didn’t show up to care for patients. (Mossburg, 4/8)

CNN: Nursing Homes In New Jersey, California Reporting Clusters Of Coronavirus Cases
Members of the New Jersey National Guard were deployed to two New Jersey nursing homes this week after both facilities reported deaths of residents due to coronavirus. About 40 members were dispatched to the New Jersey Veterans Home in Paramus, which houses 285 residents and has reported 10 deaths from the virus. At least 23 residents have tested positive and are isolated and another 47 are awaiting test results, New Jersey Department of Military and Veteran’s Affairs spokesman Kryn Westhoven told CNN. (Frehse, Sturla and Silva, 4/9)

CBS News: Coronavirus Cases Surge In Nursing Homes Across The Country
Across the country, we’re seeing an alarming rise in coronavirus cases in nursing homes. More than half of the nursing homes in New Jersey have at least one case. Three patients have died at a nursing home in Missouri. At a home near Richmond, Virginia, 33 have died. This is the system at a breaking point. (Vigliotti, 4/8)

Houston Chronicle: COVID-19 Outbreaks At Nursing Homes Raise Questions About Transparency, Safety Of Elderly Residents 
When the news flashed on the television screen on April 2 about a coronavirus outbreak at a Texas City nursing home, Jessica Ticas immediately picked up the phone, panicked. Ticas’ grandmother, Maria Rivas, is a resident at The Resort at Texas City, a 135-bed long-term care facility where 68 residents and employees tested positive for the coronavirus last week. Ticas wanted answers: Is her grandmother one of the infected residents? Is she showing symptoms? (Powell, Godlenstein and Foxhall, 4/8)

Reuters: Nursing Home Deaths Rise In Maryland With Tests, Protective Gear Scarce
Retired firefighter Gary Holmberg was only supposed to be at the Pleasant View nursing home in Maryland for a little while, recovering from a fall at his assisted living center. But about a month after he arrived, Holmberg, 77, became one of more than a dozen of the nursing home’s residents who died from the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. (Brice and Ross, 4/8)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Coronavirus Deaths In Louisiana Nursing Homes Up To 130; At Least 93 Facilities Have Cases
Coronavirus has continued to take a deadly toll on Louisiana’s nursing homes, claiming 130 lives and infecting more than 550 residents, according to numbers released Wednesday by the state. Moreover, coronavirus cases have been confirmed in 93 of the state’s 436 nursing homes and long-term care facilities, the state’s numbers show. (Roberts III, 4/8)