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Every Nursing Home Employee and Resident in the State to Receive Coronavirus Test

Tuesday, May 5th, 2020 -- 10:01 AM

(AP) -Every resident and worker in all 373 Wisconsin nursing homes will receive a free coronavirus test as part of a plan to expand testing to everyone who needs one, Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday.

The Evers plan calls for ramping up testing to 85,000 people per week. He said the state has the capacity to provide that many tests. Expanding testing to every nursing home resident and worker was one of several new steps announced Monday to increasing testing availability to meet capacity. Evers said state health officials started contacting nursing homes on Monday to coordinate supplies in advance of testing more than 10,000 residents and staff each week. Nursing homes, in Wisconsin and nationally, have been hot spots for outbreaks of COVID-19. As of last Wednesday, there were 93 public health investigations in long-term care facilities in Wisconsin, with 25 facilities having more than five confirmed cases, the state health department said.

Other steps Evers announced to expand testing include using the National Guard and local health agencies to test workers and families associated with outbreaks at businesses; increasing from 10 to 25 the number of National Guard units to help with setting up testing sites to respond to outbreaks; and increasing free drive-through testing sites at communities throughout the state. Evers’ reopening plan calls for a loosening of restrictions after a 14-day downward trend in positive cases as a percentage of total tests. There has been no clear trend over the past seven days. Positive cases were 9.9% of all tests on Monday, which was down from 11.1% the day before.

Evers has loosened numerous restrictions in recent days, after he extended the order. Last week, 34 state parks that had been closed for three weeks were allowed to reopen and Evers also permitted businesses able to offer contact-less curbside services to reopen. However, bars and restaurants remain closed other than for carry out or delivery, and all schools are closed through the remainder of the academic year.

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