The coronavirus pandemic has proven especially deadly in New York nursing homes, and now state officials are ramping up testing for both staff and residents in an effort to control the virus.

In some upstate counties, nursing homes count for all or a majority of COVID deaths. Residents are living close together, and many have pre-existing health conditions — making for a deadly combination.  

“This virus is really hard on those kinds of people,” said Mary Fran Wachunas, the public health director in Rensselaer County. “They can’t fight the virus off and they’re in these facilities. And once the virus gets into the facility, it’s very hard to control.”

Half of Rensselaer County’s confirmed deaths have come from nursing homes. County Executive Steve McLaughlin says COVID-positive residents need to be transferred to hospitals.

“I want them in the hospital,” McLaughlin said. “That’s the first move you should make. If you don’t have a secure isolation facility, you have got to move them to the hospital. Otherwise, you are endangering everyone else in that building, because this is not just patient to patient.”

There’s been criticism of the state’s nursing home policies, which previously required the facilities to take COVID-positive residents. That’s since been reversed.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in April an investigation by Attorney General Letitia James. Senate Republicans on Tuesday said a more independent investigation into nursing home policy during the pandemic is needed.

Cuomo on Tuesday praised the work being done by nursing home staffers, adding there was always the expectation they would be a target in the pandemic.

At least 4,813 people in nursing homes have been confirmed to have died as a result of COVID-19 or potentially due to the virus.

The state is tracking probably COVID deaths in nursing homes starting this week, potentially adding to the death toll in the facilities. And now the state health department, after more than 4,000 confirmed or possible COVID deaths in nursing homes, is starting universal testing of residents and staff. Steuben County initially began testing nursing home residents in April.

“In the three facilities we have done, it isolated and helped with mitigation going forward,” said Steuben County Manager Jack Wheeler. “So it was very successful. Unfortunately, we still see deaths occurring, but not nearly at the rate prior to testing.”

And now the state will begin this week to test other nursing home facilities for the virus. Wheeler says nurses usually working in schools will be doing the tests in the largely rural county.

“So we’ve needed to rely upon volunteer school nurses,” Wheeler said. “Thankfully they’ve stepped up and got us covered.”