At least 19 long-term care facilities in Florida have had either a suspected or confirmed case of the coronavirus, a top state health care official said Wednesday.
Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew said she could not divulge the name or addresses of the nursing facilities, citing patient privacy requirements.
She said she would look into providing more information in aggregate.Mayhew‘s agency has dispatched strike teams to affected facilities, contingents that include a nurse, an epidemiologist, an infectious disease prevention specialist and a state facility surveyor from the health agency who has been trained on the coronavirus.
Her agency is working to set up a statewide, around-the-clock hotline so nursing homes can more easily report suspected cases of the coronavirus, or Covid-19.
“I need, in these unprecedented times, a strong partnership between hospitals and long-term care providers so we can identify and isolate people who are testing positive for Covid-19 in our elderly and frail populations,” Mayhew told POLITICO.
The coronavirus is far more deadly among the elderly and people with underlying health conditions, such as cancer.