Galveston County nursing home employee tests positive for COVID-19

Jeff Ehling Image
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Nursing home employee who worked at multiple facilities tests positive for COVID-19
Galveston County is looking into its nursing homes after an employee tested posituve for the coronavirus.

Galveston County is looking closer into its nursing homes after an employee, who tested positive for the coronavirus, worked at more than one facility.

Health officials say there are some residents at nursing homes in the county with COVID-19 and at least one is in the hospital being treated for the virus.

The names of the facilities and of the employee are not known. It is also not known if that worker infected any seniors in the facilities. For now, there is no major outbreak at any nursing home in the county and officials want all nursing home workers to stay home if they feel sick.

"Most people who work in these settings, they're the guys that show up right they show up no matter how they feel. No matter how bad the weather is, they're not the kind of people to call in sick," Galveston County health authority Dr. Philip Keiser said. "So please, don't belittle your symptoms or think that you're you're making something out of nothing. If you have symptoms, be honest with yourself."

County officials are trying to figure out how many nursing home employees work in multiple facilities and they are coming up with a plan to tackle that issue.

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