Coronavirus US: 84 residents evacuated from California nursing home after employees do not show up for work

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Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Coronavirus: Riverside County residents ordered to stay home, cover faces when leaving
Health officials ordered residents in Riverside County to stay home and cover their faces when leaving amid the coronavirus pandemic.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- More than 80 residents were being evacuated from a nursing home in California Wednesday morning after employees "did not show up to care for sick patients two days in a row," health officials said in a statement.

The 84 patients will be moved from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, which has about 90 beds, to other nearby health care locations, a news release from health officials said.

Riverside University Health System and Kaiser Permanente sent 33 licensed vocational nurses and registered nurses to care for the residents after only one of the facility's nursing assistants showed up to work, according to the statement.

Coronavirus symptoms, tips amid COVID-19 outbreak

Patients with COVID-19 experience mild to severe respiratory illnesses.

There are 34 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus among the residents and five among employees, officials said.

"The receiving skilled nursing facilities will undergo standard COVID-19 containment measures," a statement from the health department said. "This includes closing the facilities to new patients, limitations on staff to not work at other facilities, the isolation of sick patients, and close monitoring of all patients by staff."

As of Tuesday, 1,016 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Riverside County, California, including 28 deaths and 67 recoveries.