State toughens COVID-19 testing rules for nursing homes

Gov. Laura Kelley's executive order announced Wednesday an executive order that imposes stronger testing rules for nursing homes across the state. The order comes as Kansas waits to receive its first shipments of a promising vaccine to protect against the coronavirus.

By

State News

December 10, 2020 - 9:10 AM

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday imposed stronger coronavirus testing rules for several hundred state-licensed nursing homes that will have most of them testing their employees twice a week.

The executive order on testing comes as Kansas waits to receive its first shipments of a vaccine made by Pfizer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to consider within days whether to authorize emergency use of the two-dose vaccine. If it does, the state expects the first shipments by the end of next week.

The order affecting nursing homes applies to more than 470 facilities and imposes the same testing requirements already faced by about 360 homes in Kansas licensed by the federal government. The rules require greater testing of employees if a county’s rate of positive tests grows.

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