DENVER – Colorado will test up to 900 residents and staffers for COVID-19 this week at three long-term care facilities along the Front Range as the number of cases and deaths at those facilities continues to grow.
As of Sunday, there were at least 111 facilities experiencing outbreaks of the virus across the state. Four-hundred and twenty-two people have died, including 324 people over age 70.
According to data last updated April 15, there were 644 residents at those facilities who had either tested positive for the novel coronavirus or were suspected to have it. Thirty people who died are suspected to have had the virus, and another 138 people who died tested positive for the virus.
Additionally, 634 staffers at facilities across the state have tested positive for the virus or are suspected to have the virus.
In total, around 40% of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have come at long-term care facilities.
Last Friday, Gov. Jared Polis said the state was working to better test and long-term care facilities and announced a new order that will require every facility to submit a response plan to the state by May 1.
The Unified Command Center started this week’s round of testing Sunday. The Colorado National Guard, Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is supporting the testing measures.
Testing started at the Pikes Peak Center in El Paso County on Sunday. Testing will take place at the Elms Haven Center in Adams County on Tuesday, and at the Broomfield Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Broomfield on Thursday.
The state says 300 tests will be provided to each facility to test residents and staff. The state said they are working to test locations based on their size and the fact that no outbreaks had previously been reported at each location.
For the latest COVID-19 updates from across Colorado, click here.
