Thousands of Texas Nursing Home Residents Have Tested Positive for Coronavirus

More than 3,000 Texas nursing home residents have tested positive for the new coronavirus, as well as nearly 400 assisted living facility residents, according to data released Friday by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Among the reported 311 nursing homes with confirmed cases, 3,011 residents have tested positive and 490 have died. Another 494 residents have recovered, according to the data. At 112 assisted living facilities in Texas with at least one confirmed coronavirus case, 382 residents have tested positive for the virus, and 95 have died.

Statewide, 1,272 people have died, but it was unclear late Friday if all of the long-term care facility patients' deaths were included in that larger figure.

The state had previously released only the number of nursing homes with confirmed cases and fatalities, not the number of people who have tested positive.

The state is still not releasing the names of nursing homes with COVID-19 cases. Many families remain in the dark about whether their loved ones in nursing homes are at risk of exposure.

Throughout Texas and across the nation, long-term care centers continue to arise as coronavirus hot spots.

Reported nursing home outbreaks have emerged in Texas City, Lubbock and San Antonio, among other locations, though the data reveals multiple nursing homes with confirmed cases in each public health region, and each region has at least one assisted living facility with a confirmed case.

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