Prison Workers Get Free Testing; Gear Going To Nursing Homes

North Carolina is offering widespread testing or protective equipment to workers in two of the more vulnerable living settings for COVID-19 outbreaks.

The Department of Public Safety unveiled a plan Thursday to make free testing available starting next week to employees in state prisons. According to a news release, the plan will provide direct testing for the more than 21,000 employees who work in prisons or juvenile facilities, and in the community supervising juvenile and adult offenders.

An earlier initiative failed to materialize.

Gov. Roy Cooper also says packages of personal protective equipment are being sent to each of the state's 3,800 long-term care facilities. More than half of North Carolina's COVID-19-related deaths have involved nursing home residents.

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