As COVID-19 deaths continue to rise in nursing homes, state health officials are ramping up efforts to test everyone who lives and works in facilities with outbreaks of the deadly virus.

In response to growing public pressure, teams made up of public health personnel and the Minnesota National Guard have been deployed across the state to facilitate comprehensive testing in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

As a result, more than 10,000 residents and staff at about 40 long-term care communities have undergone coronavirus testing in the past few weeks, and dozens more facilities are scheduled to launch testing by mid-June, according to state data released this week.

All told, about 470 nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have requested state assistance with COVID-19 testing; another 134 facilities have begun testing on their own, according to the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in St.

For months, senior homes were testing residents and staff only if they had high temperatures or other symptoms, though research shows that asymptomatic people can spread the virus without being aware they are infected.

Many senior homes lacked access to testing materials or could not find private labs to handle the volume of tests they were seeking, say representatives of the long-term care industry.

In many cases, she said, staff at nursing homes are being asked to get COVID-19 tests on their own and then have their insurance plans cover the cost.

Housley has argued that weekly, on-site testing should be offered at all 1,700 long-term care facilities across the state.

Such testing among senior care residents should take priority over the sort of free tests that were offered earlier this month at National Guard Armory locations across the state, Housley said.