Danielle Brown writes in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News that President Trump Monday urged states to universally test all nursing home residents and staff, and suggested that such testing should have happened earlier.
He issued the recommendation during a press briefing after being asked why the federal government has yet to mandate widespread testing in nursing facilities. During a call with governors earlier Monday, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the White House is recommending that all states test nursing home residents and staff members for COVID-19 over the next two weeks.
(Our Note: Sounds like a good idea, but where are the tests?)
Trump also said during the Rose Garden briefing that widespread testing in facilities should have been conducted immediately following the outbreak at a Washington state nursing home in early March.
“I would certainly consider that. I will mandate it if you’d like. I think it’s important to do and I think frankly some of the governors were very lax with respect to nursing homes,” Trump said Monday afternoon.
“[The states] have the capacity to do it. They should be doing nursing home [testing]. That is a real vulnerability,” he added.