Former and current employees at Sagepoint and six other nursing homes in Maryland say the virus spread rapidly as their facilities struggled with shortages of staff, testing and personal protective equipment. At several nursing homes, employees said, managers played down the severity of outbreaks and did not provide masks and gowns until patients had tested positive. But a top nursing home executive told Maryland lawmakers Wednesday that the testing has not yet materialized. And nursing home employees said the additional staffing won’t cover yawning gaps at the state’s 226 facilities. The state hopes to redirect health-care workers from overflow sites to nursing homes, she said, because some hospital overflow sites have not been needed.

Source: Washington Post May 06, 2020 17:57 UTC