Ducey orders enhanced coronavirus reporting by long-term care facilities
May 4, 2020, 6:00 PM | Updated: 7:08 pm
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool)
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced Monday that long-term care facilities must provide enhanced reporting regarding their coronavirus data.
Next of kin or guardians of long-term care residents must now be kept up to date on facilities’ latest COVID-19 developments.
“If you have someone who is a loved one who is inside a long-term care facility … if they were to contract COVID-19, you would be contacted immediately,” Ducey said during a press conference.
“If someone who is not your loved one contracts COVID-19 in that same facility, you would be contacted immediately.”
Ducey’s executive order requires such information be passed on to residents’ family members within 24 hours of its confirmation.
Families will also receive a care center’s coronavirus-related information once a new residence for their loved ones have been chosen and accepted, Ducey said.
RELATED STORIES
The governor also announced the goal to test everyone in long-term care centers, initially prioritizing staff and vulnerable populations within densely populated settings, according to Ducey.
“Our largest concern is the congregate settings,” the governor said.
Congregate settings also includes correctional facilities.
The Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry will receive additional supplies, swabs, reagents and rapid testing machines for use by both inmates and staff.
ADCRR has currently tested 214 inmates for coronavirus, yielding 63 confirmed cases.
Five inmate deaths have initially been labeled by ADCRR as having been directly or indirectly caused by COVID-19.
