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HHS monitoring long-term care facilities for coronavirus
Tuesday, March 3, 2020 by Tai Moses
Texas Health and Human Services continues to monitor the coronavirus outbreak with a particular eye on preventing the spread of respiratory infection in the state’s long-term care facilities. David Kostroun, HHS deputy executive commissioner for Regulatory Services, said in a news release Monday, “While the risk of coronavirus infection in Texas remains low, we’re preparing for the potential spread of the virus within long-term care settings where older residents are particularly vulnerable to disease. We are taking simple but effective precautions and providing guidance to the facilities we regulate to help protect long-term care residents, employees and visitors from respiratory illness.” Strategies used to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 are generally the same as those used to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses like the flu. The release adds that the agency has asked nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to put up signs at the entrance asking visitors not to enter if they “have symptoms of any respiratory illness” and that HHS is “developing additional infection control guidance for licensed health care facilities, child care operations, and other regulated entities.”
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