65 workers at the Washington nursing home where 13 residents have died of the coronavirus are showing symptoms, but there aren't enough tests for them
- A coronavirus outbreak in a Seattle-area nursing home has infected over 50 residents and killed at least 13.
- Many employees likely have it, too - up to one-third of the staff is under quarantine.
- But the CDC has not tested 65 employees because of ongoing test shortages.
- An official from the facility said he hasn't been given an answer as to why the facility doesn't have enough tests.
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A coronavirus outbreak at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington - a long-term care facility - has infected over 50 residents and killed at least 13. It's the epicenter of one of the biggest coronavirus flare-ups in the US, which now has over 800 cases and 28 deaths nationwide.
But the true case total associated with the Life Care outbreak is likely higher, since the center still doesn't have enough tests for 65 employees who are experiencing symptoms, Reuters reported Monday.
The 65 staff members - about one-third of the Life Care Center's 180 employees - are self-quarantining and not going to work.
"We would like more kits to test employees," Life Care Center spokesman Tim Killian told reporters at a briefing on Monday. He said he did not know why the facility has not been sent more tests.
"We've been asking the various government agencies that have been supplying us with test kits," he added.
Since the outbreak began, three staff members have had symptoms severe enough to be hospitalized, Killian said. One has already tested positive for coronavirus.
The Life Care Center coronavirus outbreak
All of the Life Care Center residents have been tested for the coronavirus, Killian told reporters on Monday. He said that they're still waiting for results from 20 of those tests tests, and at least three have been inconclusive. In total, 51 residents have tested positive so far. Those with severe symptoms have been taken to a nearby hospital.
The nursing home had 120 residents prior to the outbreak, but 26 have died since it began. Coronavirus is the confirmed cause of death for 13 of those. Currently, 53 residents remain at the facility, 31 of whom have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
On Monday, Seattle and King County public-health officials said in a statement that they were working with the University of Washington to coordinate testing for the Life Care Center staff. Washington state has two laboratories that can test samples for COVID-19: the Washington State Public Health Laboratory in Shoreline and UW.
"Priority will go to employees who have symptoms consistent with COVID-19," the statement said. "Testing is recommended only for people who are symptomatic for the disease."
The high portion of sick employees at Life Care Center now means the facility is short-staffed. A team of nurses and doctors from the US Public Health Service has been brought in to help care for residents.
Because the coronavirus spreads via droplets when people are in close contact, a nursing home can be a dangerous breeding ground for an outbreak.
The coronavirus' death rate appears to be highest among people older than 80, according to data from the Chinese CDC. It also is more dangerous for those with pre-existing health conditions.
The US is still struggling with limited test availability
As of Monday, 4,856 people in the US had been tested by public labs, and 3,698 had been tested in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's own labs.
However, the nearly 9,000 tests administered so far don't meet the need in hospitals and doctor's offices around the country.
The delays in testing seem to stem from the CDC's decision to make its own, extra-comprehensive coronavirus test in January. (Many countries developed their own tests at the beginning of the outbreak, including China and Germany.) An issue with those CDC-issued test kits in some states caused initial results to be unreliable, which meant hospitals had to send all swabs to the CDC in Atlanta for testing until last week.
The CDC announced on Monday that it is enlisting more private-sector labs to conduct tests. The agency said it has verified 79 labs to conduct the tests.
Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said last week that 1 million test kits would be available by the end of the week. Those kits have been shipped.
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