Care Home Refused Free Tests. Now, Nearly Everyone Has Virus

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana memory care facility that didn't carry out free coronavirus testing on its residents is reeling from an outbreak that has infected nearly everyone who lives there.

Eight residents have died, accounting for almost a quarter of Montana’s 34 confirmed deaths. The outbreak illustrates that even the most common-sense preventive measures sometimes go unused during the pandemic.

Canyon Creek Memory Care in Billings was among 45 of the 289 assisted living facilities and nursing homes in Montana that initially declined the state's call for testing. Its owner hasn't directly answered questions about why it did not test residents and staff for the respiratory virus.