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.

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."

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.

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