Lessons From Mass-Testing for Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Long-Term Care Facilities for the Elderly in San Francisco

Janice K Louie; Hyman M Scott; Amie DuBois; Natalya Sturtz; Wendy Lu; Juliet Stoltey; Godfred Masinde; Stephanie Cohen; Darpun Sachdev; Susan Philip; Naveena Bobba; Tomas Aragon; San Francisco Department of Public Health COVID-19 Skilled Nursing Facility Outbreak Response Team

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1020

Lessons From Mass-Testing for Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Long-Term Care Facilities for the Elderly in San Francisco

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 Jun 1;72(11):2018-2020. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1020.

Authors

Janice K Louie^{1

2}, Hyman M Scott^{1

2}, Amie DuBois¹, Natalya Sturtz¹, Wendy Lu¹, Juliet Stoltey^{1

2}, Godfred Masinde¹, Stephanie Cohen^{1

2}, Darpun Sachdev¹, Susan Philip^{1

2}, Naveena Bobba¹, Tomas Aragon^{1

3}; San Francisco Department of Public Health COVID-19 Skilled Nursing Facility Outbreak Response Team

Collaborators

San Francisco Department of Public Health COVID-19 Skilled Nursing Facility Outbreak Response Team:
Allen-Contreras Robin, Alonso Sabrina, Copeland Nicole, Corona Adam, Lee George, Lemen Kaylene, Ongpin Melissa, Watson Lisa, Zarate Sheilah

Affiliations

¹ San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, California, USA.
² University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
³ University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 can cause significant mortality in the elderly in long-term care facilities (LTCF). We describe 4 LTCF outbreaks where mass testing identified a high proportion of asymptomatic infections (4%-41% in healthcare workers and 20%-75% in residents), indicating that symptom-based screening alone is insufficient for monitoring for COVID-19 transmission.

Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; elderly; health care worker; infection control; mass testing; skilled nursing facility.

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19*
Disease Outbreaks
Humans
Long-Term Care
SARS-CoV-2
San Francisco
Skilled Nursing Facilities