Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a release May 11 that 100% of Texas’ nursing home residents and staff members will be tested for coronavirus.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas Department of State Health Services received direction from Gov. Abbott to implement a plan based on guidance from Vice President Mike Pence and Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx.
“The State of Texas is working to rapidly expand our testing capacity—specially among vulnerable populations in Texas nursing homes,” Gov. Abbott said in the release. “This important collaboration among HHSC, TDEM and DSHS will ensure that any potential clusters of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes are quickly detected and contained.”
Gov. Abbott did not provide a timeline for when testing will begin.