All Texas nursing home residents and staff to be tested under Gov. Abbott directive

AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- All people living or working in a nursing home in the state of Texas will need to be tested for the coronavirus under a new directive announced by Gov. Greg Abbott.

On Monday, Abbott directed three state agencies to make sure "100% of residents and staff in Texas nursing homes" are tested.
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According to Abbott's office, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Texas Division of Emergency Management, and Texas Department of State Health Services are being tasked to develop and implement a plan based on guidance from the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

"The State of Texas is working to rapidly expand our testing capacity-especially among vulnerable populations in Texas nursing homes," said Abbott. "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."
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The directive came as the state added about 1,100 new cases in one day. As of late Monday afternoon, Texas counted nearly 40,000 coronavirus cases since early March.

INTERACTIVE: TEXAS CORONAVIRUS CASES BY THE NUMBERS