Coronavirus: 84 residents evacuated from Riverside nursing home after employees do not show up for work

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- More than 80 patients were being evacuated from a nursing home in Riverside on Wednesday morning after employees of the facility "did not show up to care for sick patients two days in a row," health officials said in a statement.

The 84 patients will be moved from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, which has about 90 beds, to other health care locations throughout the county, the news release from the Riverside County Public Health Department said.

Riverside University Health System and Kaiser Permanente sent 33 licensed vocational nurses and registered nurses to care for the residents after only one of the facility's nursing assistants showed up to work, according to the statement.

Coronavirus symptoms, tips amid COVID-19 outbreak

Patients with COVID-19 experience mild to severe respiratory illnesses.

There are 34 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus among the residents and five among employees, officials said.

"The receiving skilled nursing facilities will undergo standard COVID-19 containment measures," the statement from the health department said. "This includes closing the facilities to new patients, limitations on staff to not work at other facilities, the isolation of sick patients, and close monitoring of all patients by staff."

As of Tuesday, 1,016 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Riverside County, including 28 deaths and 67 recoveries.