26 Austin Nursing Home Residents Have Died From Coronavirus

AUSTIN, TX – There have been 26 coronavirus-related deaths at Austin area nursing homes or long term care facilities to date, health officials announced Tuesday during a special meeting of the Austin City Council.

Mark Escott, Interim Health Authority, presented current data from nursing homes and long-term care facilities at the meeting. The data was gathered from 13 facilities, which were not identified.

According to the data, there have been a total of 88 staff members at Austin nursing facilities who have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. One staff member has died from the disease.

There have been 192 positive cases of COVID-19 in nursing home residents, and 26 resident deaths.

During his presentation, Escott discussed the need for widespread testing in order to improve testing at facilities throughout Travis County.

"We have completed testing at one facility and are in the process of rolling out testing at other facilities that have outbreaks," he said. "As testing capacity improves, our ability to test will improve."

Austin residents who think they might need to be tested can visit AustinTexas.gov/COVID19 to gain access to the public testing enrollment form. The form will walk residents through registration in the online portal, self-assessment and testing recommendation, appointment scheduling and testing and results.

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