Advocates say Florida nursing homes remain at high risk for COVID-19

With Florida experiencing a surge in new COVID-19 cases, senior groups say not enough is being done to protect those most at risk of dying from the virus.

“The virus gets in and then it just spreads like wildfire through the facility, it’s so unfortunate and at this point so not necessary,” says AARP Florida State Director, Jeff Johnson.  “At this point in time there is no reason we can’t do regular testing to make sure that the virus is not getting in and there’s no reason for any facility to not have the protective equipment they need to keep their residents safe”

Last week ACHA issued an emergency rule requiring that all facility staff be tested for the virus every two weeks, but stopped short of calling for daily testing or the testing of residents at Florida 633 nursing homes.

“If you’re going to prioritize anyone shouldn’t it be the people who are most likely to succumb to this thing,” said Johnson.

Of the 1,673 death linked to nursing homes, 73 have come from central Florida, including 34 in Volusia County.

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