SACRAMENTO, Calif. — At least 65 residents and workers at two Sacramento assisted living facilities have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to state data released this week.
Sunrise Assisted Living of Sacramento reported at 25 residents and 23 workers have tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Sunrise Assisted Living of Fair Oaks said 16 of its residents and at least one on its employees has tested positive for the virus.
The data released by the state represents COVID-19 positive cases at centers licensed by the California Department of Social Services.
The two Sacramento facilities, which are owned by Virginia-based company Sunrise Senior Living, are among at least 856 cases in the state's more than 7,000 facilities. Sunrise Senior Living owns 329 facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The number of cases in senior living facilities across California is conservative considering the data release by the state only includes facilities that house more than six people and have reported more than 10 confirmed cases.
That means smaller group homes and assisted-living facilities with fewer than 11 confirmed cases among residents and employees are excluded from the data. State officials said this is because of privacy information.
On Monday, federal officials said they plan to begin tracking and publicly releasing data on infections and deaths inside nursing homes across the country, which have been called the "ground zero" of the coronavirus crisis.
The announcement comes as the federal government has been pushed toward more aggressive actions to track infections in homes and to contain outbreaks.
Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday said that the state is monitoring the large number of cases and has been in contact with facilities to address the crisis.
"It's over 8,685 licensed facilities that we are monitoring in the state of California and over a 300,000 patient capacity, that doesn’t even include the staff," Newsom said in his daily press briefing. "Gives you a sense of the breadth and depth of the responsibilities in that space."
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated to reflect that the facilities are senior living centers and not nursing homes. ABC10 regrets the error.
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