California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the state will start an aggressive COVID-19 testing regime for its health employees who inspect nursing homes.
The announcement came hours after publication of an L.A. Times investigation that found since the beginning of the pandemic, the state health department had been sending inspectors from nursing home to nursing home without testing them for the deadly virus, which means they could be spreading it.
“We’re raising our standards,” Newsom said during a news conference, adding that nursing home inspectors will be held to the same testing standards the state requires of nursing home employees. Homes are required to test 25% of their staff every week and ensure that all employees are tested at least once a month.
“I am thrilled to see this put into place,” said Dr. Michael Wasserman, medical director of the Eisenberg Village nursing home in Reseda and an outspoken proponent of universal, routine testing of nursing home residents and employee to help contain the disease. “I think it will save lives.”
Read the full story on LATimes.com.
