Nursing Homes in Maverick County Being Tested for COVID-19 By Texas National Guard
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
All three nursing homes in Maverick County, Texas are undergoing testing for COVID-19 by the Texas National Guard pursuant to orders of Governor Gregg Abbott that all nursing homes’ residents and staff in Texas be tested for the deadly virus, according to Eagle Pass Mayor Luis E. Sifuentes at a June 1, 2020 press conference. Abbott ordered three state agencies to test all residents and staff of nursing homes in Texas after a study found that 47 percent of all of the state’s total deaths from COVID-19 were from nursing homes.
Mayor Sifuentes stated that the Texas National Guard was in the community administering COVID-19 tests to all residents and staff of the three nursing homes in Eagle Pass, Texas. Sifuentes noted that Maverick Nursing and Rehabilitation Center residents were tested by medical staff of the Texas National Guard on Sunday, May 31, 2020 and another total 260 tests were administered on Monday, June 1, 2020 to residents and staff of La Hacienda de Paz Rehabilitation and Care Center.
Sifuentes added that Eagle Pass Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is scheduled to be tested on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 by the Texas National Guard medical team.
Sifuentes previously stated on May 29, 2020 that four employees of Maverick Nursing and Rehabilitation Center had tested positive for COVID-19.
Sifuentes highlighted the testing of all three nursing homes in Eagle Pass is as a result of a statewide order issued by Governor Greg Abbott. Sifuentes added that the test results of the three local nursing homes will be reported to three state agencies and the local Emergency Operations Center will seek to obtain the results of these tests.
The three agencies conducting these tests include the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and the Texas Division of Emergency Management in collaboration with the Texas National Guard.
