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LA County Bars Visitors At Nursing Homes, Communal Activity Inside Facilities; City Mandates Monthly Testing

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Nursing homes and other facilities will no longer be allowed to have visitors in response to continued outbreaks of the coronavirus at such facilities, officials said Friday.

Under a revised order from Los Angeles County, only essential workers will be admitted to congregate living facilities, as officials reported 43% of the county's fatalities occurred in skilled nursing homes.

Nearly 300 institutional settings — including nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, shelters, jails and prisons — have had at least one case, according to Barbara Ferrer, director of the county's Department of Public Health.

Those institutions make up a total of 5,339 cases, and 365 deaths, Ferrer said.

Under the new order, all staffers at affected facilities are required to wear surgical masks at all times and protective equipment when necessary. It also requires residents to wear face coverings when outside
their rooms.

RELATED: National Guard Deploys To Several LA Nursing Homes With Coronavirus Outbreaks

Ferrer said testing of all residents and staff at such facilities will begin Monday, regardless of whether they are showing any coronavirus symptoms.

In his daily briefing, Mayor Eric Garcetti enacted a companion emergency order that not only expands testing at skilled nursing facilities in the city of Los Angeles, but requires, monthly COVID-19 diagnostic testing for residents, employees and contractors.

"We believe this is the first city in the country to mandate that monthly testing," Garcetti said.

Another 52 deaths from the coronavirus were reported Friday, bringing the county's total to 848. Ferrer said one death that had been previously reported in the county turned out to be a resident of another jurisdiction.

Of those who have died from the illness in the county, Ferrer noted that 91% had underlying health conditions.

As of Friday, there were 18,517 confirmed coronavirus cases reported in Los Angeles County.

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