Stamford Coronavirus Updates: City Testing Nursing Home Workers

STAMFORD, CT — Mayor David Martin announced Thursday the city has made arrangements to test asymptomatic healthcare workers at nursing homes throughout Stamford for the new coronavirus. Facilities where employees will be tested include Cassena Care, Edgehill Health Center, Long Ridge Post-Acute Care, St. Camillus Center and The Villa.

Testing will also be offered to assisted care facilities across Stamford, city officials said.

"This testing is part of the city's larger initiative to provide testing for essential workers on the frontlines fighting this virus," Martin said in a statement. "Workers at these institutions take care of the most vulnerable residents in our community. This expansion of testing will not only help protect these workers and their families, it will also help protect the residents and their families."

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According to the announcement, healthcare workers will receive nasopharyngeal tests, or "nasal swabs," provided by DOCS Urgent Care and Murphy Medical Associates, a process similar to the way the city tests its emergency response providers.

These tests will then be processed by Quest Diagnostics and Sema4 Labs, and results will be returned to workers within 48 hours, officials said. Each institution will manage testing of its own employees and provide results to the city.

According to city officials, Stamford has over 90 patients across all nursing homes in the city who have tested positive for the virus, also referred to as COVID-19, based on the most recent data available as of Thursday morning.

See also: Stamford Mayor, NAACP Branch President Deliver Masks To Families

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COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past.