New York, May 11 (IANS): Workers at care homes across the US state of New Yorke must be tested for coronavirus twice a week under new rules laid out by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, it was reported.

The Governor announced new rules for care homes on Sunday, the BBC reported.

"This virus uses nursing homes. They are ground zero. They are the vulnerable population in the vulnerable location," he said.

Besides monitoring care home staff, hospitals can no longer discharge patients back to care homes unless they have tested negative, he said.

Any of the more than 600 care facilities in New York that fail to comply would lose their licences, Cuomo added.

The announcement comes as New York moves to reopen parts of the state beginning on May 15.

To qualify, a region must have at least 14 days of declines in reported infections and be able to run 30 tests for every 1,000 residents.

The Governor also reported that the state is investigating 85 cases involving children suffering from an inflammatory illness suspected of being linked to COVID-19, reports the BBC.

New York has been the epicentre of the US coronavirus outbreak, with 26,670 deaths and 335,395 cases as of Sunday.

The US has reported a total of 1,329,791 COVID-19 cases and 79,528 deaths.