Updated at 9:45 p.m. with additional information.
Sixty-three residents were evacuated Wednesday afternoon from a nursing home in Lake Worth where about half of them had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said.
MedStar emergency services said they were asked by state health officials to relocate residents from a facility in the 4200 block of Wells Drive.
MedStar said crews will treat all residents as if they have the novel coronavirus.
Residents were sent to two different nursing homes, each of which took half, officials said.
“Every place that we’re transferring those patients to has accepted those patients," MedStar spokesperson Matt Zavadsky said. "They know that many of them are coronavirus positive, so they’re going to be cared for, isolated, quarantined in certain areas and they have the capacity to do that.”
“We’re very cautious using full PPE to make sure that the patients are safe and the crews are safe during that travel," Zavadsky said.
WFAA has reached out to state officials for more information. It's unclear why the residents were evacuated.
In an email, a HHSC spokesperson said, "Our investigation is ongoing. All families have been notified. More details about our investigation will be available once the investigation is complete."
At a COVID-19 webinar on July 2 for Texas nursing homes, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services said there was a surge in Tarrant County, along with Bexar, Harris and Travis counties.
"Heightened awareness and extra caution is needed," the department said.
There have been 2,017 positive cases at nursing homes in the North Texas region. There have been 283 deaths and 986 recoveries.
In May, Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state to test all employees and residents at long-term care facilities for COVID-19.
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