Since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, California health officials have required nursing homes to bar entry to outsiders who might bring the coronavirus in with them and trigger a deadly outbreak among the elderly, vulnerable residents.

As a result, aging parents haven’t seen their families in months. Many have died without a final embrace from the people they loved.

But despite requiring routine testing of residents and employees, there’s one group California health officials have knowingly sent from nursing home to nursing home without first testing them for the lethal virus: state inspectors.

Interviews with eight registered nurses working as inspectors for the California Department of Public Health — all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation — revealed that the department has not provided coronavirus testing for the very people it is sending to make sure facilities comply with rules on infection control.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.