Mississippi to test all nursing homes and staff for the coronavirus, Reeves says
Because the majority of COVID-19 deaths are now in long-term care facilities, Mississippi State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs said the state has a new two-week strategy to test residents and employees in all of them.
Dobbs announced the strategy at Gov. Tate Reeves’ afternoon news conference Friday.
Reeves said it will mean testing 27,000 Mississippians, “a major step forward and a major effort.”
Reeves added, “This is a challenging task, but one that I believe we are up to.”
General testing of the population also will continue.
The State Health Department reports 10,801 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday evening and 493 deaths. Of the total, 1,416 cases are in long-term care facilities with 231 deaths.
Anita Lee
Sun Herald