The Regional Government, in conjunction with the Regional Health Authority, is reinforcing the safety conditions of the Residential Structures of Nursing Homes and Integrated Continuing Care Units throughout the Region, namely by testing the staff and users for COVID-19 infection. 

In this regard, the members of the staff of the Bom Jesus Nursing Home of Rabo de Peixe Community Centre, who began working on April 20, after 14 days of isolation, were already tested last week, and its users are expected to be tested in coming days.
 
There are plans to extend this procedure to various residential structures for the elderly throughout the Region. It is also aligned with the period when work teams end their shifts, seeing that many institutions have reinforced their contingency plans with the implementation of a work process based on alternate teams, i.e., with one team working and another in home confinement for 14 days. 

In coming days, COVID-19 testing will cover the staff and users of the Nursing Home of Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Divino Espírito Santo in Maia and of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Ponta Delgada (São Miguel island), followed by a group of institutions on Terceira Island, namely the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Altares, the Nossa Senhora do Pilar Social and Parish Centre in Cinco Ribeiras and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Angra do Heroísmo. 

This initiative aims to reinforce a series of measures already implemented by institutions in order to prevent and control infection with COVID-19, such as the suspension of family visits to home facilities, the separation of teams and work spaces, the reinforcement of hygiene procedures and the use of personal protective equipment, among others.