Five months after the coronavirus outbreak engulfed Minnesota's senior homes, state health regulators have begun testing nursing home and assisted-living inspectors for the deadly virus.
The Minnesota Department of Health ordered the testing last week after the Star Tribune reported that, since the beginning of the pandemic, the agency had been sending dozens of inspectors into nursing homes and assisted-living centers without first checking them for the virus.
The lack of routine testing of state inspectors, also known as surveyors, had alarmed some public health experts and elder care advocates, who have been troubled by a resurgence of the virus. In interviews, inspectors said the Health Department was sending them into facilities, including some with coronavirus outbreaks, without testing them to make sure they were not spreading the virus. Two inspectors, who asked not to be identified, said they were exposed to the virus on a near-daily basis and would spend several hours a day inside facilities with known outbreaks.
In a written statement, the Health Department confirmed it has begun testing of staff who inspect long-term care facilities, though the agency declined to disclose how many inspectors were being tested and how often, citing data privacy laws. The agency also declined to disclose whether any inspectors have tested positive for the virus.
"We want to note that we are doing this in order to reinforce best practices and to be extremely cautious due to concerns about community spread and asymptomatic transition," the agency said in the statement. "Implementation was not started in response to any cases traced back to our on-site surveyors."
In early May, Gov. Tim Walz made expanded testing of residents and staff a key part of a five-point "battle plan" to address the mounting death toll of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities. The Health Department even deployed the Minnesota National Guard to help with testing. The state's efforts enabled many facilities to test everyone who lived and worked in their communities for the first time, as opposed to the sporadic testing that occurred during the early weeks of the pandemic.
Yet this aggressive expansion of testing did not extend to the state's own inspection staff. As of two weeks ago, the Health Department still did not have a system in place for routine COVID-19 testing of its 70-plus regulatory staff who do surveys and investigations inside long-term care facilities. The agency did require testing for inspectors with symptoms of the virus, and it required them to be screened and wear personal protective equipment when entering facilities.
Since late March, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities across the state have barred family members from indoor visits with residents to prevent the spread of the virus. The Health Department began easing guidelines for visitor restrictions in June, but many senior homes have maintained the lockdown because of a resurgence of the virus and a high rate of cases in their local communities. As a result, residents have suffered prolonged periods of social isolation and depression, and some have died without their relatives by their side.
