The state will no longer provide testing to the workers who staff long-term care facilities and it’s beginning to phase out so-called isolation centers, where nursing home and eldercare patients who tested positive for COVID-19 were sent to curb outbreaks at facilities statewide. RELATED: Jacksonville facility caring for COVID-19 patients from Florida’s long-term care facilitiesStarting Friday, the state stopped admitting patients to 18 of 23 isolation centers throughout the state. A News4Jax search of Florida Department of Health records shows that cases in long-term care facilities peaked in July with 5,877 residents and 7,298 employee testing positive. The state ended its contract with the vendor providing testing to long-term care facilities, even as a panel formed by Gov. Lee expressed concerns about how relaxing policies protecting long-term care facilities could impact the health and safety of their residents and the employees who take care of them.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Are long-term care facilities getting the appropriate testing to help identify and slow the spread of the coronavirus inside them? There were 16 additional coronavirus-related deaths reported last week at long-term care facilities in Northeast Florida. The Cove at Marsh Landing reported one resident death and two staff deaths, all of which were the first deaths reported at the facility. Brookdale Atrium Way 1 reported one staff death and one death under investigation -- both were the first deaths reported there. Robert H. Jenkins Jr. Veterans Domiciliary Home of Florida reported two additional staff deaths for three staff deaths total.

FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. The Alzheimers Association has partnered with Floridas Department of Elder Affairs to provide senior-friendly tablets to nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Seagrass Village, a long-term care facility in Fleming Island, received two of the tablets. But now he can get in touch with her with a video chat app that has been loaded onto the tablets. Campbell said the tablets are easier for residents to engage with than smartphones. So they just looked at the tablet, Thats my daughter, thats my granddaughter, thats my dog."

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An employee at a Jacksonville senior living facility has tested positive for novel coronavirus, the facility told residents and visitors this week. The facility, Wyndham Lakes on Old St. Augustine Road, said Friday it is now following federal and state health guidelines to prevent the respiratory illness from spreading. “The employee was working in a segregated area of the community which limits the potential exposure to other residents and staff,” Matheny told News4Jax on Friday. The state has reported 53 cases and nine deaths among long-term care facility staff and residents in Duval County. One in five COVID-19 deaths in Florida is linked to long-term care facilities, the state says, and people ages 65 and up make up 82 percent of the statewide death toll.