Nursing home testing on to-do list

By KAREN PARKER

County Line Publisher Emeritus

Despite a statement from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Gov. Tony Evers that all of the state’s nursing home residents and staff would be tested for the coronavirus, that does not appear to be happening locally.

A press release from the Wisconsin National Guard did not include either Monroe or Vernon counties on the list of places where they are doing nursing-home testing.

Linda Nederlo, health officer with Vernon County, said she had been informed testing would take place only at the request of the nursing home. The county has one public home and two private homes.

In Monroe County, health officer Sharon Nelson said, “The three nursing homes in Monroe County are going to test all their staff and residents; however, they will not be using the National Guard for testing. Each nursing home will use their own in-house staff. We are do not know the timeline.”

All of this may be rendered moot after Monday’s press conference, when Vice President Mike Pence said all of the nation’s nursing home residents and staff should be tested. This was backed up by Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, who said this should be done within the next two weeks.

But the story changed again Tuesday, when a member of the Senate asked CDC director Robert Redfield about the matter during a hearing.

Redfield said that would be a matter for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and he would need to consult with them before supplying an answer.

An estimated one-third of all deaths from the virus are nursing home residents, according to a New York Times database.

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